


Sonic Chronicles 2: Eggman's Legacy

by ToniTheMink



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2020-10-27 19:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 84,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20765528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToniTheMink/pseuds/ToniTheMink
Summary: Set right after the events of "Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood".  Sonic and his crew have arrived back on Earth, not realizing they've been gone for over 200 years...  The world is now taken over by the Eggman Empire, and Sonic's team must join forces with Silver the Hedgehog and the Rebellion in order to take back the world, and stop Eggman Nega from not only destroying Earth, but ALL of existence!!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> All Sonic characters and related indica © SEGA
> 
> Janae Lightfoot, Irwin the Badger, Sheila the Raccoon, Lord Richard, Angie the Mouse, Aurora © Toni the Mink
> 
> Oydax © Ver2k0 (used w/permission)
> 
> Serena © BatCrAcKeRs (used w/o permission, but I couldn't contact her, so... Credit regardless!)
> 
> (More characters to claim as they are introduced...)
> 
> \-----------  
EDIT: 11/18/19
> 
> Since this is no longer a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story, it doesn't make sense to keep the second-person narrative. Therefore, I changed the narrative of the story to third-person limited.
> 
> This WAS going to be a "Choose Your Own Adventure" project fic complete with 2nd person view (you would be in Sonic's POV as you decide the outcomes of the story), but after over a year of working on it, and having little to nobody give a crap about your progress, plus running out of ideas for alternative storylines depending on what choices you make, I was starting to run out of steam...
> 
> Plus real-life events are taking up priority in my life, so I can't devote myself to a fan-made sequel of a DS Sonic game that wasn't even that popular with the fandom...
> 
> So I'm just going to post the "Golden Path" here on and Ao3. Though I will leave a FEW choices up for people to see such as, "Do you tell Amy how much she means to you? Or do you tell her to zark off?"
> 
> [ORIGINAL NOTES:]
> 
> Since it's obvious that we'll never see what happens after the first Sonic Chronicles, fanfics are the closest thing we're going to get…
> 
> However, before you start, please keep in mind the following:
> 
> Cream the Rabbit and Big the Cat did NOT join Sonic's team against Imperator Ix. Big, because I'm not a huge fan of the guy (sorry…) and I didn't care for the fact he got to join your party and there was nothing you could do about it… So please disregard the fact he was "left behind".
> 
> As for Cream… Same. I LIKE the character, but canon-wise, she's not the type to come along to join the battle. She's always too scared and doesn't like to fight. And since in the game you DO have the option to_not_take her along, for this sequel, we're going to go with the fact that Sonic and crew rescued Cheese, returned him to Cream, and then told her to go home.
> 
> As for the many fan-characters that will appear… I promise that it will remain SONIC'S story, and not a farming ground for a butt-load of OCs… But in a "new world" it WOULD make sense Sonic and pals would meet "new people"...
> 
> Enjoy!

**Prologue:**

Just as Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends think they're finished one intense adventure, another one pops right into their faces...

It all started about a year ago, right after Sonic thought he and his friends took down Dr. Eggman once and for all... There was no way he could've survived that explosion to his base. So Sonic figured it was safe to go out and explore the world while there was peace around.

Sonic ended up being gone for roughly a year, before Tails managed to contact him and ask he return to Green Hill Zone. It turned out there was a new threat about in the form of the Mauraders, an inter-dimensional group of terrorists out to take over Angel Island. They had even taken out and kidnapped Knuckles, so they MUST be lethal.

Meeting up with Tails, Amy, and even Rouge (as ordered by the G.U.N commander), Sonic had set out to find the location of the Mauraders and save Knuckles. Once they did, Knuckles has already managed to free himself, but needed help getting back to Angel Island.

The group traveled to Blue Ridge Zone, where they came across Shadow, who was out to find E-123 Omega. He had gone to confront the Mauraders but hasn't been heard from since. He joined the team in order to find Omega, and they all then came across a team of Mauraders, with them Shade... who revealed herself to be an echidna, from the Nocturne Clan, rival to the Knuckles clan 4,000 years ago.

After a fierce fight, Shade blocked the way to Metropolis, Eggman's old city. While searching for another way through, everybody found who else but Dr. Eggman! He insisted he had reformed and was willing to help Sonic get into Metropolis in order to build a weapon against the Mauraders.

Upon making it to Metropolis, everyone split up into 2 teams: One went with Sonic and Knuckles to Angel Island to fight the Mauraders, the other stayed in Metropolis with Tails and Eggman to construct the weapon (this team found and repaired Omega, who then joined the team).

Sonic's team confronted the head of the Mauraders, Imperator Ix, who at that moment chose to reveal his grand scheme: Use the Master Emerald to not only return to Earth after being banished to the Twilight Cage, but use its power to take over the entire world! Shade didn't realize this was his whole scheme and refused to go along with his plan, in which Ix dismissed her from the tribe... by trying to kill her, but Knuckles was there to save her.

Eggman fired the weapon at the Mauraders, leaving Ix and the rest of the Mauraders to escape in the Twilight Cage, along with the Chaos Emeralds AND the Master Emerald, leaving Angel Island to crash into Metropolis.

Shade asked to join the team to fight against Ix as a way to make amends, to which Sonic was reluctant, but Knuckles managed to convince him to allow her. Meanwhile, Tails and Eggman created a ship called "The Cyclone" that would allow everyone to travel through dimensions following the coordinates Ix used and make their way into the Twilight Cage. Once it was finished, Sonic and his team were off, trusting Eggman to be left behind to watch over the world in their abscence, and so that he can open the portal for them once they were finished. He said he reformed, so nothing bad could happen while they were away, right...?

Sonic and his crew made it to the Twilight Cage and confronted every other being banished there by the myterious "Argus"... This included the Kron, the Zoahs, the N'rrgals, and the Voxai, all whose colonies were rules over by the Nocturne Tribe, led by Ix. Sonic convinced all the colonies (most who disliked each other very much) to work together in order to overthrow Ix, give back the Chaos Emeralds the Nocturne had given them, and Sonic's team confronted Ix.

Ix used the chaos power from the Master Emerald that was infused with the Nocturne colony to become a 'super state' of his own. But Sonic had the Chaos Emeralds, went Super, and took him out with one strike... Seriously, the fight didn't even last a minute!

Down but not out, Ix teleported away, and without the Chaos Powers to keep the colony alive, Nocturne began falling apart, and the team rushed back to the Cyclone and escaped out of the Twilight Cage, where they headed back to Earth with the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald in tow...

Everyone thought it was all over...

But they had forgotten a tiny little detail that they were told about earlier...

Time passes in the Twilight Cage much slower than earth, hence why Imperator Ix and most other tribe members were still alive even after 4,000 years.

And during the whole escapade, it could be assumed a hefty amount of time had passed on Earth as well.

Because when Sonic and his team returned, they saw the world in a mechanical state of slavery, and Metropolis up and fully running again...

Complete with an automatic message by Eggman, welcoming everyone back home, though, "It would have been better if you hadn't returned at all!"

So now it's time to deal with a new crisis, as the chronicles of Sonic continue...


	2. Welcome Home...

**CHAPTER 1**

* * *

'_How long were we gone for anyway?'_ Sonic wondered to himself, 'Days? Months?' It couldn't have been an entire year, even though anybody couldn't keep track of the days. The Twilight Cage, with all those different worlds, had different timelines, and Sonic never really thought to ask Shade what day it was… All he was concerned about was finding Ix and getting the back Master Emerald.

Yet, the moment they all returned, they could see Metropolis was not only up and running, but more powerful than before. In fact, as far as they could see, it looked like Eggman had even expanded!

"What in the world happened while we were gone..?" Sonic said solemnly.

As if to answer his question, the monitors on the Cyclone's dashboard fizzled, and Eggman's face suddenly appeared in its place.

"Welcome back, team," he smiled deviously, "You've been gone a long time… Might have been better if you hadn't returned. But I was hoping you would one day, even after I was long gone. As you can see, I've kept quite busy in your absence. With you all out of the way, there was no one to stop me as I achieved my one and only goal…" He raised his fist triumphantly, "World domination!"

As he let out a long cackle, Sonic grit his teeth as his fist shook in rage. He had no doubt the others were feeling the same way he was.

"The only thing I regret is not being around to see the looks on your faces as you come upon your new world," Eggman sneered in the video, "If you haven't figured it out yet, this is a recording, set to play the moment you've returned, whenever that may be… Who knows how much time will have passed by the time this plays. But one thing I do know…

"You've entered the new and improved Eggman Empire. I have no doubt long after my death, my utopia will continue to increase and thrive, and there will be nothing you can do to stop us! Mwahahahaha!"

The moment the transmission ended, there were sounds of gun turrets and laser blasts below, followed by explosions and the ship rattling hard, throwing everyone to the ground. Red alerts blare, and Sonic felt the ship losing altitude.

"Everyone hang on!" Tails cried, pulling at the controls, "We're going down!"

"Strap yourselves in!" Sonic shouted as he jumped to the nearest seat and wrapped his seat belt tightly. The rest of the crew quickly followed suit.

Tails was trying hard to maintain control, but the Cyclone was being rattled more with additional hits and explosions. "Tails, what about the shield?!" Sonic called over.

"Our defense system is down!" he cried back, "Everything's offline! It's taking all we've got to not plummet!"

"If we keep getting hit, we're just as much goners!" Knuckles shouted.

Sonic narrowed his eyes as a crazy idea popped into his head. "Tails, go low and go fast!" he ordered his young friend.

Tails looked back at him, surprised. "What? But if we hit the ground at that speed-"

"We'll be killed if we just hang out up here!" Sonic replied, "We gotta get out of these guns' aims!"

Tails gripped the controls hard. "Okay, Sonic," he says, "Here's hoping your plan works!" He pushed up, directing the Cyclone quickly into the ground below. "Brace yourselves!" Tails screamed, just as the ship plummeted into the ground, skidding several hundred yards before finally slowing to a complete halt.

Sonic figured the damage was heavy, given the fact that everything inside had shut off. It was completely dark. Not one thing hummed to life. It was also disturbingly quiet.

"Everyone okay?" he called out loud.

At that, he eased in relief as he started to hear shuffling around, from seat belts unbuckling, to unknown feet crossing the bridge, and even Omega's robotic joints sitting upright.

"We're okay here, Sonic," he heard Knuckles from the other side.

"I'm fine," said Amy.

"Ditto," Rouge responded.

Shadow made a small huff. Sonic assumed that to mean he was all right.

"Running-Diagnostics," Omega droned, "All-Systems-Operational."

"Are you all right?" Shade's voice was heard by the front, where the control panel was.

"Yeah…" Tails' voice replied, "Just a bump…"

As Sonic unbuckled his seat belt, he heard a strange noise coming from outside. It was suddenly quiet in the bridge again.

"Robots..?" Amy asked, her voice quivering.

"Careful everyone," Knuckles warned, "We don't know what we're up against here…"

"I don't want to sit here like a coward," Shadow grunted, "Let's see just how much stronger Eggman's army has gotten."

"It's not safe," said Shade, "Knuckles is right. We don't know what we're up against."

"What if it's help?" said Amy, "We need to check it out at least."

It got quiet again. Obviously everyone isn't sure what to do, but it wouldn't be long before someone made a rash decision…

Even though nobody could see him, Sonic grinned and nodded your head. "No use sitting around here and waiting for them to get us," he said out loud, "Let's see for ourselves what we're up against!"

"Heh heh," Sonic could practically hear Shadow smirking, "Best idea you've had yet, Sonic."

Knuckles smacked his fists together. "Well, I always did want to go down with a fight."

"I'm ready!" Amy piped up, the swishing of her hammer ringing out.

"Guess we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Tails meekly responded.

Sonic leaped from his seat and charged forward. Though it was pitch dark, he was certain he knew where the door was. Everyone else was close behind him, following the sounds of his footsteps on the metal floors. Once he reached the exit, he press his ear against the door. There were still a lot of mechanical whirring and static noises. Those were Eggman's bots all right...

Sonic stepped backwards, out of the way. "Omega," he said, "Break it down. Twelve o'clock. Give it all you've got!"

"Affirmative," Omega replied. There was a sound of his arm transforming… and the foyer lit up brightly at his awesome gun power, blasting down the doors and striking any bots that were in harm's way.

Two fall to the ground. Everybody dashed outside to meet a group of massive Egg Pawns, lined up, ready for attack. Everyone managed to take a few down, but as Sonic performed his usual spin attacks, he noticed their exterior was harder than usual. More titanium? Stronger guard? He wasn't sure, but he didn't have time to figure it out as he and his friends were fighting for their lives.

The Egg Pawns were down, but soon the heroes were met with a group of Heavy Hammers. From his one adventure, Sonic remembered just how hard they were to attack, and just how powerful their gigantic hammers were. If the Egg Pawns gave him that much trouble, who knew just how much tougher these guys had become?

"Knock them on the ground!" Rouge shouted.

Sonic nodded, remembering their weaknesses. If they lost their footing and fell over on their backsides, they would be easier to destroy. Sonic curled into a spin, and slammed against the chest of one Heavy Hammer, but then bounced right off, having no effect. As he slid on the ground on his back, he also saw Omega blasting every firepower he had on the Heavy Hammers. However, he was barely leaving a dent. Even the Kron creatures weren't this resilient!

There was no way they could all survive while finding out how to beat these enemies…

Suddenly, the Heavy Hammers froze on the spot. They were completely engulfed with a bluish energy that seemed to have prevented them from moving even an inch. Nobody knew what was going on, but many of them took it as an opportunity to catch his or her breath.

"HeeeeYA!"

As soon as the mysterious voice rang out, one of the Heavy Hammer's heads was slammed clean off its shoulders, and the bluish energy released, allowing it to fall forward. Another Heavy Hammer's head was sliced off clean, and that one fell forward as well. The third was suddenly lifted into the air, and flung clear across several blocks.

With most of them gone, the group now had a clear view of their rescuers. One of them was a grey-furred, female rabbit, wearing a white shirt, red jacket, jeans, and red & white sneakers. She held in her hand a long, metallic rod, which was emitting electrical sparks on its ends. Another was a strange looking robot, with red, white, and blue stripes (designed to look like the flag of a particular country perhaps), carrying a rather sharp looking cricket bat. Obviously, none of the group had no idea who these two were…

However, they spotted the third rescuer… a silver-furred hedgehog with long quills, levitating by using a bluish energy that emitted from his hands. Sonic knew exactly who he was. "Silver!"

The hedgehog looked down at the team, and his eyes widened with surprise. "Sonic?"

Sonic grinned and waved. "Long time no see!"

"We can chit chat later!" Shadow shouted, "There're more Badniks where that came from!"

Silver caught a few of them with his psychokinesis and slammed them into nearby walls, while his friends attacked others. Sonic and the others managed to take a few more down.

"I'm afraid we can't continue to play around," the strange-looking robot said aloud, "My systems indicate more Badniks are ordered to this location. We've taken enough down to make an escape. We should take our leave."

"I refuse to leave a perfectly good battle," Shadow snarled.

"I'm sure there're plenty more where that came from, Shads," said Sonic, "We need to situate ourselves. Let's get outta here while we can!"

Shadow looked back at the Badniks, as if ready for more. However, he was snagged by Omega and dragged off. Shadow shouted in protest, but eventually, he groaned and allowed himself to be carried off. Silver led the way as everyone quickly made their leave. The rabbit followed closely, and the robot brought up the rear, covering everyone's hides in case of another attack.

Silver led the group into an empty building. Once inside, he quickly opened a plank on the floor, and ushered everyone through. Once they were all in, he followed, and last to come in was the robot.

For an underground tunnel, Sonic was surprised at how well-lit it was. There were fluorescent lights lining against the wall and ceiling, leading down a long corridor. Silver led the way down. Shadow muttered to himself how he hates running from a fight, but Rouge was able to keep him in line, occasionally saying "Let it go, Shadow. Let it go…"

"Eggman won't find us down here, will he?" Amy said, looking worried, "Aren't these one of his buildings?"

"Don't worry, you're all safe," Silver replied, "This tunnel is located under one of his defunct factories. Doesn't give out much energy, so he doesn't think to trace suspicious activity here. We try to live around every loophole possible."

It was a long tunnel, and Sonic had many questions. May as well start a conversation. "So Silver," he spoke up, "What brings you back from the future. Did our leaving this dimension screw up your timeline again so you're back to fix things?"

The rabbit cocked an eyebrow. "What now?"

Silver gave a nervous chuckle, and looked back at him. "Actually Sonic," he replied, "This time, I'm not the time traveler. _You guys_ are the ones in the future."

Everyone nearly stopped in their tracks. "Say what..?" Sonic muttered.

"According to history," the robot spoke from behind, "Roughly 200 years ago, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends disappear into an unknown dimension, leaving Eggman behind to rule the planet."

"Two hundred years?!" Amy cried, nearly falling over.

The rabbit nodded. "Yeah. Nice of you to come back, finally."

Sonic lowered his eyes as a feeling of guilt washed over him. '_I should've known Eggman would pull something like this while we were away,'_ he thought to himself, _'Somebody should've stayed behind to make sure he didn't try anything.'_ Then again, he couldn't very well let Ix take over their dimension, especially with the Master Emerald in hand...

_'Wait… the Master Emerald!'_

"Knuckles!" Sonic turned to his echidna friend, "You still have the Master Emerald on you, right?"

Knuckles' eyes widened suddenly. "No!" he cried, "It's back on the ship!" He turned and went to double back, but the robot stood in his way. "Move it, pal!" he snarled.

"Sorry, but no," the bot replied, "It's too dangerous to go back. You'd be risking another Badnik horde."

"'Sides," the rabbit piped up, "The Master Emerald was rumored to be gone forever."

"No, don't you get it?" Knuckles shouted, "Grand Imperator Ix stole the Master Emerald and took it to the Twilight Cage. That's why we went after it, and we brought it back… only I left it in the cargo bay!"

Rouge slapped a palm on her face, "What kind of guardian are you?"

"Give me a break!" Knuckles snapped, "We were suddenly up against a bunch of robots! I didn't have time to go back and grab it!"

"We'll worry about the Master Emerald later," said Silver, "We need to group up at HQ."

"Um, no can do, sweetie," Rouge said, "You have no idea how powerful that big, beautiful gem is. If someone like Eggman gets a hold of it-"

"Listen, there's nothing we can do now," said Silver, "Oydax is right, we can't risk going back for it. Nega's troops probably ransacked your ship by now."

"Then we need to get the emerald back, ASAP," said Shadow.

Silver twisted around fiercely. "Look, you want to run around blindly in a city you're not familiar with, with robots stronger than you're aware of, then be my guest!" He narrowed his eyes, "Otherwise, if you just want to survive to fight another day, then trust me and let's go."

Knuckles didn't seem to like that idea at all, but he kept quiet and nodded. The group then continued on.

* * *

After a long while, everyone finally made it out of the corridor and to an underground lair. There were several different rooms around, such as a rec room, mess hall, and barracks. Many people walked about. It was like an underground city.

"Welcome to the Resistance," said Silver, "We manage to hide under Eggman Nega's nose and foil any plans he has."

The rabbit grunted and looked away. "But after two-hundred years, yeah… Not much progress."

"It's only ninety percent of the world," said Silver, "We've still got a chance."

The rabbit scoffed in response.

"Oh, by the way," Silver gave a faint smile, "Guess we were all caught up in battle and escaping, we didn't formally introduce ourselves. My name's Silver." He nodded towards Sonic, "Some of us have actually met before." He then turned to the rabbit, "And this is Janae."

"Janae Lightfoot to be exact," the rabbit girl looked up and grinned smugly.

Silver pointed to the robot-looking creature. "And this is Oydax. He's the strongest member on our team, and really reliable."

Oydax gave a bow. "Pleasure."

Sonic smiled and nodded. "Same."

The rest of the team introduced themselves as well.

"I'm sure you all have a lot of questions," said Silver, "But you also just came back from a 200 year trip… You may want to relax, catch your breath, eat, what not…" He pointed towards the Mess Hall. "I'll be grabbing a quick bite to eat. Come talk to me if you have any questions."

"I shall find Tech and inform him of the situation," said Oydax, "He'll most likely want to set up a team pow wow about this. We'll fill you in later, Silver."

Janae twitched her nose in annoyance, turned, and walked off towards the barracks. Tails quickly followed. "Hey, wait up!" he called after her, "I have a few questions."

Everybody else went off in different directions, either to unwind, explore, or just to be by themselves. Sonic finally had a moment alone, and decided to figure out what he'd like to do…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I continue, let me know what you think about the 2nd-person narrative (through Sonic's POV). Do you like seeing the situation through his eyes? Or do you prefer a third-person narrative (where Sonic is referred to as "Sonic" and not as "you")? Or do you REALLY want me to shake things up and make it 1st person (Sonic would be narrating)


	3. Visiting Rebellion HQ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are the "choices" you could've made to visit some of your friends. There are some "alternate scenes" at the bottom as well.

* * *

**GO SEE TAILS AND JANAE**

* * *

Sonic made his way towards the barracks, and found himself in a lounge area. Many comfortable couches laid around the large room, which was fairly empty, save for his best friend Tails, sitting with Janae Lightfoot. Janae was holding out a slim tablet, which showed various holographic images, and Tails was looking at it with both an impressed and depressed look.

"What'chu guys lookin' at?" Sonic asked as he approached the two.

They looked up to acknowledge his presence. "I'm just finding out what happened while we were gone," Tails replied, "Silver was right. It has been two hundred years since we left for the Twilight Cage."

"Of course," Janae muttered, "Why would he lie?"

"Sorry," Sonic said, "We're use to _him_ being the time travelling visitor."

Janae rolled her eyes and turns back to the holographic history lesson. "It was dumb of you to leave, y'know," she snarked, "Why'd you go for so long anyway? What was so important that you left our world vulnerable for the greatest threat the planet's even known to just stroll in and take over?"

Sonic glared at her. "Just to save the world from an evil imperator from using the Master Emerald to control our dimension."

"Yeah, thanks," Janae grunted, "A lot of good that did us."

Sonic sighed and plopped himself on the couch on Janae's other side. "Damned if we do, damned if we don't, I guess," he replied. "So what'd we miss while we were gone?"

Janae sighsed and pressed another button. "Let me go ahead and start from the beginning," she said

**200 YEARS AGO….**

_After Angel Island crashed onto Metropolis, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and E-123 Omega mysteriously disappear. Within a month, Dr. Eggman uses mysterious technology left behind from the remnants of Angel Island, rebuilds his city, and uses his newfound findings to create a stronger army. It didn't even take an entire year before the Eggman Empire took over half the planet._

_Many kingdoms and cities were forced to evacuate and flee as Eggman's armies stormed in and took control. They took shelter in sanctuary cities that Eggman hadn't touched yet, as political leaders banded together along with many civilians to create a Resistance, sworn to fight and defeat the Eggman Empire and win back our world._

"You may have known most of them," Janae cut in, "Ever hear of Team Chaotix?"

Surprised, Sonic nodded his head yes.

"They were the original forerunners of the Resistance. They gathered everyone they knew that didn't suddenly disappear and banded them together in the fight against Eggman. Anyone and everyone. Made some decent progress. Was able to keep the Empire at bay, though not as strong as you guys probably could… Apparently, Sonic, the moment Eggman would sneeze, you were on top of him with a tissue and a butt-kicking."

Sonic glanced away in response.

Janae continued on…

_Throughout the years, the Empire and the Resistance were at a Tug-of-War for the planet. Eggman would manage to grab more land, but the Resistance would find a way to foil his plots. While it was a tough start, the Resistance did manage to push back the Empire more and more. Their highest peak of success was when the legendary Cream the Rabbit took charge._

"_Cream the Rabbit?"_ Sonic cried out, "Cute, little Cream headed the Resistance?"

"Yeah," said Tails, "Though the files here say she became leader when she was seventeen. And she was a real effective one too. More foiled plans, rescued many towns and civilians…"

Sonic gave a low whistle. "Wow… Go figure. Who knew the kiddo had it in her?"

Tails slowly nodded, but Sonic could see he looked uneasy about it.

Janae, on the other hand, couldn't stop grinning. "So what are you happy about?" Sonic asked her.

The rabbit gave a smug smile. "Let's just say Cream's lineage has a proud history of continuing the tradition of being the best."

"Lineage..?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, "You're saying Cream had kids..?" The idea of a six-year old being a mother somehow sent disturbing shivers down his spines.

Janae nodded. "And then THEY had kids, and so forth, and so forth… Right up to yours truly!"

Sonic shook his head in disbelief. "Wha-WHAT?"

"That's right!" Janae grinned, "I'm the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Cream! Well, probably more greats should be there, but you get the idea!"

Sonic stared at the ground. "I don't believe it…"

"You better," said Janae, "You're talking to the seed of a real legend! Pretty cool, huh?"

"I mean about Cream!" Sonic said, "I mean, who did she end up with?!"

Janae gave an unimpressed look. "Get real," she snorted, "Anyway, Cream was a true legend in the Rebellion, and I'm descended from her! I've got a lot to live up to!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I'm sure freeing the planet takes a bigger priority, right?"

"Well, yeah," Janae replied, "And who's going to free it?" She pointed her thumbs into her chest, "The legend, of course!"

Sonic gave an unimpressed look of his own, almost feeling bad for Cream for becoming an ancestor to this egotistical air-head. "So what have you done exactly to help out the Rebellion?" he couldn't help but ask, "After all, Silver said something about Eggman having 90 percent of the world now?"

Janae sneered at him. "Wasn't me!" she shouted, "Blame the mole! Or the duck, rather…"

"Duck...?"

"Bean the Dynamite Duck. Actually, all of Team Hooligan. They joined the Resistance later in the years. Everyone thought it was just for protection from Eggman's invasions, but Vector, leader at the time, figured they could use all the help they can get, and that they did have skills that they could use to contribute. They SEEMED like team players… Even Bark sacrificed himself to save his team at one point. Bean looked especially heartbroken and lost after that event. He seemed more determined than ever to put a stop to the Empire. So when Cream took over as leader, she had already put a lot of trust in Bean at that point…"

_Years later, the Resistance got a tip of one of Eggman's scheme, and they created a new battle plan that would heavily damage Eggman's Empire and turn the war in their favor… But as they infiltrated Metropolis Zone, it turned out to be a big trap, orchestrated by Fang and Bean. All those years, Team Hooligan had been working for Dr. Eggman the entire time, acting as double agents. They spilled all their secrets, their plans, and put the strongest team out to be killed in a carefully planned out double-cross, courtesy of Eggman._

_The sanctuary cities were found and taken over. Survivors were captured and taken in. And if that didn't beat all, Bean at the last minute threw Fang in with the rest of the team to be murdered, as payback for sacrificing Bark for their plan._

_The only reason the Resistance was able to find all this out afterwards was a small crawl space that could shield one person from the explosion Eggman set. At the last second, it was Cream's friend Charmy that shoved her in that crawl space and rescued her as the rest of her team were killed._

_The Resistance was taken down a huge notch, and Eggman managed to grab more of the world for his Empire. Ever since then, Cream had lost her will to fight, and almost all of her will to live, had she not found the few remaining Resistance members that managed to escape. They banded back up, but Cream stepped down as leader. She couldn't forgive herself for what she allowed to happen…_

"Ever since then, the Resistance slowly built back up, but not enough to hold back Eggman," Janae continued, "Over the next two centuries, the Empire took control of more and more of the planet. Now he has pretty much 90% of the world."

She smiled, "But even if there's only ONE percent left, there's still going to be a Resistance, and we're going to fight hard to win back our world!"

Sonic smiled back. "That's some determination," he said, "You're my kinda team."

Janae grinned at him. "Funny you should say that," she said slyly, "After all, I always believed this would be the generation that would turn things around. Now that you and everyone else are back, we finally have an advantage against Eggman Nega! We can finally win this war once and for all!"

Sonic looked to the ground in thought. Janae made a lot of sense. The world became what it was now because he wasn't there to stop Eggman to begin with. The least he could do was go back to doing what he did best: Kicking Eggman's tail.

Speaking of which… Sonic looked over to Tails. He was still staring sadly at the hologram, and of Cream's profile. The picture was of the little rabbit; only not so little anymore. She was very much grown up, and her face was filled with years of war, and of things she probably shouldn't have gone through at such a young age.

"Don't sweat it, buddy," Sonic assured him, "Once this is all over, we'll find a way to go back, and Cream will be the cute little girl she was when we left her."

Tails closed his eyes and gave a slow nod. "I hope so…"

"Yeah right," Janae groaned, "Silver always talks about going back in time whenever things don't go the way we want. He once mentioned something about an 'Ifrit' creature, but I don't remember any ridiculous fire monster…" She closed out the holograms. "He needs to learn when things are bad, you can't just turn back time. Work with what you got! The results will be much more satisfying."

Sonic coudln't help but shrug. "Yeah because things are going so well here…"

Janae glared at him coldly. "Well like it or not, you're stuck here, so you BETTER make the best of it."

Sonic returned the cold stare, and figured he had enough of this rabbit's company.

* * *

**GO SEE TECH & OYDAX**

* * *

As Sonic explored the Underground Resistance hideout, he passed a room with a large computer. He stopped to peek in, after noticing a familiar robot with red, blue, and white marks.

The robot noticed him as well. "Hello, Sonic."

"Yo! Oydax, right?" Sonic let himself in, waving. Oydax nodded his greetings and looked to the other side of the room. Following his glance, Sonic saw a red furred wolf wearing big, horn-rimmed spectacles sitting at a second, large computer. The wolf spun his chair around to acknowledge you, showing off a shy smile.

"Hello…" he meekly greeted, eyeing Sonic up and down, "Sonic the Hedgehog… I don't believe it." He stood and offered a handshake, "I never thought I'd actually meet you… I mean, over two-hundred years, we all thought you'd be long dead, especially since you disappeared out of the blue… but… Man, oh man…"

Sonic shook the wolf's hand. "Pleasure to meet you too," he chuckled.

The wolf quickly and clumsily adjusted his spectacles. "Oh jeez, I'm so sorry!" he cried, "What a horrible way to greet you! Sorry…"

Sonic waved his hand. "No worries," he smiled, "And you are..?"

"Oh right!" the wolf shook Sonic's hand wildly, "Tech! Tech the Wolf. I'm one of the biggest brains the Resistance has to offer. I'm at your service!"

"Hey, let's leave the royal treatment in the past," Sonic grinned, "We're here to help each other."

Tech nervously bowed. "Right… So anyway, welcome to the future! Well, I mean, it's the future to you… To us, it's the present. Not a good one though…"

Sonic rubbed at his nose. "I'll say…" he muttered, "If we hadn't disappeared, none of this would ever happen…"

"What else can we do about it?" Tech sighed.

Sonic smiled. "Guess we can learn a little more about what's around here. Starting with the Resistance… I know all about Silver, but what's your story, Tech?"

Tech beamed brightly. Sonic figured he must be very happy that he wanted to learn more about him. "Where do I begin?" he said, turning back to the computer, "Oh wait, I know! I'll let the computer do the talking…" He typed away, and pulled up a program. "Here you go," he offered Sonic his seat, "These are the profiles of every major player in the Resistance. Go ahead, check it out yourself."

Sonic plopped himself in his chair and clicked around, exploring the available profiles given.

**NAME:** Silver the Hedgehog

**AGE:** 15

**SEX:** Male

**SPECIES:** Hedgehog

**SKILLS:** Psychokinesis

**PERSONALITY:** Determined, brave, slightly naïve

**BACKSTORY:** Highest ranked fighter in the Resistance and de-facto leader. Most experienced in Time Travel. Brave, and has a strong sense of justice, and he will not let anything deter him of his goals.

**NAME:** Tech the Wolf

**AGE:** 17

**SEX:** Male

**SPECIES:** Wolf

**SKILLS:** Burst Gun

**PERSONALITY:** Shy, cautious, intelligent

**BACKSTORY:** Tech lost his family as a young child during one of Eggman-Nega's raids. He was rescued and raised by the Resistance. He has invented many useful weapons for the Resistance from Nega's own scrap head, including his favorite weapon, the Burst Gun.

**NAME:** Oydax

**AGE:** N/A

**SEX:** Male

**SPECIES:** Wisp

**SKILLS:** Blue cube shields; Built in gun in arm; Sharp cricket bats as weapons

**PERSONALITY:** Helpful, polite

**BACKSTORY:** Oydax was one of the Wisps that chose to stay on Earth after Eggman's "Theme Land In Space" plan. He lived in the city Bellbridge for a brief period of time. But one day when Eggman's forces invaded, he became seriously injured and captured. Years later, Eggman decided to make Oydax one of the first Wisps to be a part of a new special kind of Badnik, powered by Wisps instead of regular animals. After 6 failures with the others, Oydax was lucky number 7. He was his perfect prototype and was forced to obey his commands. But luckily, about 150 years later on one stormy night, Oydax got struck by lightning and had gained free will to control his Badnik body. He has since joined the Resistance not only to help free the planet, but also in hopes to rescue all his kind from their Badnik prison.

**NAME:** Janae Lightfoot

**AGE:** 16

**SEX:** Female

**SPECIES:** Rabbit

**SKILLS:** Fights with an electric metal rod

**PERSONALITY:** Proud, boisterous, overconfident

**BACKSTORY:** Descendant of Cream the Rabbit, one the original founding members of the Resistance. Because of this, she wishes to live up to her legacy and prove she is just as good as her ancestors. Because of her lineage, she tends to see herself better than others and often times gets in over herself.

After reading the profiles, Sonic leaned back in the chair. "Not bad," he mentioned.

Tech nodded. "Thank you!" he chimed, "That means a lot..." He arched up straight, squaring his shoulders, "Though now that I think about it, I think we need to add a few more profiles..."

"Oh?"

"Well, you know your team better than anyone, Sonic," Tech smirked, "Go ahead and add them and yourself."

Sonic grinned and nodded, then tapped away at the keys to form new profiles for the Resistance's database.

**NAME:** Sonic the Hedgehog

**AGE:** 16

**SEX:** Male

**SPECIES:** Hedgehog

**SKILLS:** Super speed, all sorts of spin attacks, quick wits, nice smile, beautiful blue quills, awesome fashion sense (my sneakers are awesome, thank you!)

**PERSONALITY**: Wise-guy, confident, brave, heroic, optimistic, handsome, never runs out of money, etc.

**BACKSTORY:** Hah, like I'm really gonna tell you.

**NAME:** Miles "Tails" Prower

**AGE:** 9

**SEX:** Male

**SPECIES:** Fox

**SKILLS:** Super smart, handy-man, can build almost anything that can give Maguyver a run for his money, can fly with his two tails, can drive and pilot practically anything (and he doesn't even have a license!)

**PERSONALITY:** A little shy, but usually a know-it-all. Very helpful. Has his "cute" moments.

**BACKSTORY:** Young fox, found all alone on Western Island, until he was unofficially adopted by a heroic, cool, amazing hedgehog hero named Sonic. The two became like brothers and were inseparable since.

**NAME:** Amy Rose

**AGE:** 13

**SEX:** Female

**SPECIES:** Hedgehog

**SKILLS:** Tarot card reading, hammer swinging heroine, has the most innate ability to be as annoying as possible.

**PERSONALITY:** Super romantic, which can also contribute to the annoying factor...

**BACKSTORY:** Orphan hedgehog that has a knack for getting kidnapped from time to time, though I'm sure she's capable of getting herself out of scrapes, she'd rather wait for me to rescue her, because she's that nuts...

**NAME:** Knuckles the Echidna

**AGE:** 17

**SEX:** Male

**SPECIES:** Echidna

**SKILLS:** Can punch things really hard. Can also glide on his spines, and climb walls.

**PERSONALITY:** Usually grumpy, but also tends to get fooled a lot and can't seem to learn his lesson. Brain damage perhaps?

**BACKSTORY:** Came from a long line of echidna tribes known coincidentally as the "Knuckles Tribe". They all died off, and he's the last. Dunno what happened there... but now SHADE is here, and there was the whole Nocturne clan that returned for a moment there. DUN DUN DUN!

**NAME:** Shadow the Hedgehog

**AGE:** I'm guessing somewhere in his 50's? (Gotta say, the guy looks great for his age, though.)

**SEX:** Male (though he was artificially created, so I have to wonder...)

**SPECIES:** Hedgehog (fake one)

**SKILLS:** Fake speed, Chaos Control, Chaos Blast, Chaos Spear, Chaos This, Chaos That...

**PERSONALITY:** Grumpier than Knuckles, tends to be quiet, never smiles... Definitely an emo.

**BACKSTORY**: Created by Prof. Gerald Robotnik and Black Doom on the Space Colony ARK. Tragically lost his best friend Maria when GUN stormed ARK and shot up the place... Now Shadow just doesn't seem to like anybody...

**NAME:** Rouge the Bat

**AGE:** 19

**SEX:** heh heh heh... No, that's a bad joke, sorry. Female.

**SPECIES:** Bat

**SKILLS:** Sneaky spy, master thief, kick-boxer, and can fly.

**PERSONALITY:** Flirtatious, sexy, femme-fatale

**BACKSTORY:** Secret agent for GUN. Don't know much beyond that... Afraid to ask, to be honest...

**NAME:** E-123 "Omega"

**AGE:** Not rightly sure about that...

**SEX:** Male, though robots don't really have...

**SPECIES:** Robot

**SKILLS:** Guns in his arms. I mean, LOTS of gun! Some fire power too. And it never runs out. Seriously, where does he get all of it?!

**PERSONALITY:** Robot-like... though he does seem to like wanting to hurt things...

**BACKSTORY:** Created by Eggman, now joins Shadow and Rouge. Not really much to say there.

**NAME:** Shade the Echidna

**AGE:**Technically, we're speaking over 4,000 years old if possible...

**SEX:** Female

**SPECIES:** Echidna

**SKILLS:** REALLY good fighter (threw Knuckles on his butt and all...) Leech Blades

**PERSONALITY:** Complicated. She seems nice and cool one moment, but then she's all serious and quiet the next. Then again I've only known her for so long...

**BACKSTORY:** Part of the Nocturne tribe. Former Procurator to Imperator Ix, but immediately left him after learning he's a big douche.

Sonic stretched his arms and then stood from his seat. "All done," he proudly proclaimed.

Tech nervously adjusted his glasses. "Erm... Thanks, Sonic..."

"No problem," the hedgehog winked, "Oh and don't worry... I know you're going to edit what I just wrote. It's cool."

Tech chuckled a bit. "Right... Thanks. Anyway, while you were working, I set up a meeting for tomorrow, first thing after breakfast," he said, "Silver and the others will be there. Hope to see you all there too."

Sonic nodded and gave a thumbs up. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Good night, Sonic!" Tech called as Sonic left the room.

* * *

**GO SEE SILVER**

* * *

Sonic found his way to the mess hall, which basically served as the cafeteria to the Resistance. It was a little quiet, save for a few members eating a small meal or chatting with one another. Sonic got himself what passed as a popular drink these days, then scanned the hall to find Silver. He wasn't far off, near the center of the hall at one of the tables. Sitting across from him was none other than Amy, and they seemed very engrossed with a conversation together.

He couldn't explain why exactly, but Sonic had the overwhelming urge to go over and interrupt them.

"So what's got you two such Chatty Cathys?" he called out loud and plopped down next to Amy.

They didn't look the least bit bothered, however. Amy was even excited to have him sitting next to her, and scooched closer. '_Looks like I might've jumped to the wrong conclusion…' _Sonic thought despairingly.

"I'm just telling Amy how good it is to see you all again," said Silver, "Though sorry the situation isn't all that great…"

Sonic shrugged. "What else can we do?"

"Amy told me everything," Silver continued, "How you left this dimension to go after Ix… Congrats on defeating him."

Sonic couldn't help but grin confidently, "No sweat, it was too easy."

Amy giggled. "Nothing can beat you, Sonic!"

Silver nodded. "Maybe with you here, you can help us with our war." His eyes dipped lower, staring at the table, but his mind looked elsewhere, "Or... maybe we can help you."

Sonic blinked. "Help us..?"

"Silver talked about Little Planet," Amy piped in, "Remember that place? It still comes by now and then!"

"I remember," Sonic replied, "It _used _to come into our world once a year. Ever since our last adventure, we messed with the time stream so badly, it comes at any unpredictable moment now. We haven't seen it since."

"I saw it last year," said Silver, "That's how I was able to travel to your old timeline. I wasn't sure if the legend was true or not, but since learning about it, I kept an eye over Never Lake… And one year, it came back! I visited it and found the Time Stones, in an attempt to fix the past…"

He sighed and looked away, "Unfortunately, they're only good for one round-trip. When I came back from the past, they disappeared. And very little changed. Eggman-Nega was still in charge, and almost the entirety of the planet is still under rule of the Empire. But Little Planet disappeared when I came back to Never Lake… There's no way of knowing when it'll come back."

"Sure there is!" Amy winked, "I can always tell when Little Planet returns!"

"Really? How?"

Amy pulled out a stack of cards (Where from, Sonic didn't know. Where ever she also keeps her hammer, he guessed). "I happen to be a master of Tarot," she exclaimed, "I'll do a reading tonight and let you when Little Planet comes back."

Silver smiled broadly at Amy. A little _too_ broadly at Amy for Sonic's liking… "That would be great!" he said, "We can use the Time Stones to send you all back to your rightful timeline. Then you can stop Eggman from even starting the Empire!"

"Kinda sounds too easy," Sonic smirked, "I hate to miss out on a good fight."

"Well, there's no telling when Little Planet will come back," said Amy, "You may have plenty of time to fight Eggman Nega AND use the Time Stones to return home."

"Talk about killing two birds with one stone," Sonic laughed.

Silver looked over at Amy. "How are you able to predict Little Planet's presence with Tarot Cards anyway?"

Amy scratched her head. "Can't say for sure," she responded, "I've always had a connection to Little Planet, but since I'm kind of an orphan, I could never get the answers… But my interest in fortune telling and Tarot reading helped me understand my powers." She looked over at Sonic and batted her eyelids, "It helped me with a lot of things, actually! My cards predicted true love would happen at Little Planet's next appearance. And wouldn't you know? There was Sonic, sightseeing!"

"**I suppose it **_**was** _**fate, after all!"**

Amy blinked, looking rather surprised at his response. "Oh Sonic…" she nearly swooned, "That's so sweet. I wouldn't expect that kind of reply from you."

Sonic twitched his nose. "What? Can't I be honest and nice at the same time?"

Amy gushed out loud and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. The two then glanced over at Silver, who was clearing his throat and watching them rather oddly. Apparently they had had forgotten he was still there…

"So…" he started, "You two are…?"

"In love!" Amy cheered, "I mean Sonic won't outright say it himself, but I just know he feels the same way I do about him! Right, Sonic?"

_'Oh great, she's putting me on the spot…'_

Sonic shrugged his shoulders and mumbled a low reply. So low, he himself wasn't even sure what he was saying.

Silver leaned in. "Sorry?"

"It doesn't matter!" Amy chimed, engulfing the blue hedgehog in another tight hug, "All that matters is that Sonic does care about me! When he's good and ready, he'll say what's really in his heart loud enough for the world to hear!" She batted his eyelashes at him again. "Won't you?"

Sonic gave a half-hearted smile. "Sure, why not…"

Amy jumped from her side, giddy with excitement, and skipped out of the Mess Hall.

"Interesting girl," Silver commented as she disappeared.

Sonic shook his head, but found he couldn't stop smiling. "She's one in a million."

* * *

**TALK TO KNUCKLES**

* * *

Knuckles had seemed concerned about the Master Emerald, and so Sonic wanted to make sure he was okay. Plus, one never knows when he might do something reckless, so Sonic headed off towards where the echidna was seen wandering off.

As he passed a few random Rebellion members, he noticed they were trying to make an awkward, quick exit. Getting closer, he then heard a lot of yelling. Yup, Knuckles was definitely nearby. Sonic rounded a corner, and found Knuckles and Shade facing Rouge, all of them pretty upset.

"Who're you calling a rockbrain, batgirl?!" the red echidna snarled.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "You, you rockbrain. What business do you have getting upset? I'm just pointing out the obvious. You're a lousy guardian with rocks for brains! It's a wonder it hasn't smashed to pieces long before I discovered it!"

Knuckles tightened his fists, "I told you, I was distracted, and I didn't have time to double back and grab it!"

"Yeah," Rouge groaned, "Because you forgot."

Knuckles' red face started turning even redder. "Well, I didn't see you reminding me!"

"Why should I? I'm not the guardian, remember?" She smirked, "If you had handed me the Master Emerald the first time we met, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"That's enough!" Shade shouted, stepping in front of Knuckles, "If it weren't for Knuckles, your dimension would be destroyed by now! He's done a lot of good, way more than you have in this entire trip!"

Rouge narrowed her eyes at the female echidna. "May I remind you who exactly was able to steal back Zoah's Chaos Emerald, AND gave the finishing blow to that one N'rrgl beast?! THIS rockhead on the other hand got his butt handed to him by an Iron-Clad SWATbot, and heck even by YOU!"

"That doesn't make him the things you describe him as," Shade growled.

"Sweetie," Rouge nearly hissed, "You haven't known Knuckles as long as I have. If you did, you would agree with me what a dummy he is."

"I know enough that he's a brave, strong, loyal guardian," Shade responded sharply, "And I don't like for one moment the way you speak down to him so much!"

"You're so naïve, it's pathetic," Rouge crossesdher arms, "You're pretty much perfect for each other in that sense."

Knuckles became more flustered, his face getting even redder from both rage and embarrassment. He glanced over and noticed Sonic standing nearby. "Sonic, help me out here!" he shouted, "You've known me longer than anyone here. I'm not always an idiot, am I? Haven't I always come through for you when you need me?"

Sonic nodded his head in agreement. "Sorry, Rouge," he said, "But you are way too hard on Knuckles. He's not perfect…"

Knuckles snorted at that.

"… But he's a great guy, and you don't give the credit he deserves."

Rouge rolled her eyes once more. "Typical you'd take his side," she sneered, "You boys always gang up against me."

Shade crossed her arms. "I'm not a boy, you know…"

"You could pass for one," Rouge retorted, "You don't have an ounce of femininity inside you..." She then gave a teasing grin, "...or OUTSIDE, for that matter."

"Say that again!" Shade raised her Leech Blade, activating its powers, but Sonic quickly jumped in between.

"Ladies, easy!" he cried "Let's not get violent here. We're guests… AND we're on the same team, right?"

Rouge narrowed her eyes at Shade, who returned the same gesture. Finally, the bat-girl shook her head and strutted out. "Whatever," she mumbled, "Believe what you want to. But don't come whining to me when rockbrain frustrates you to no end."

Once she disappeared around the corner, Shade turned to Knuckles. "What the heck do you admire in her?"

Knuckles sighed and shook his head. "I like her fighting style and her determination," he responded, "But she really makes it hard to _tolerate_ her, let alone LIKE her…" He looked up to Sonic. "Thanks for having my back, Sonic."

The hedgehog gave his friend a thumbs up. "No problem," he grinned "You've always got mine."

Shade smiled at the two of you. "You have an interesting friendship," she said.

The both of them look over. "Hm?"

"You argue a lot," she continued, "You don't always see eye to eye. You even exchange fists at times… Yet, you both go to great lengths to protect each other." She gave a small smile. "It's… cute."

The two became flabbergasted. "Cute?!" they spat simultaneously.

Shade nodded. "Very. You almost remind me of brothers."

Knuckles scratched the back of his head and turned away from Sonic. The hedgehog couldn't help but smirk at this. "What can I say?" he grinned, "Nobody picks on Knuckles except me."

Knuckles glared back, but Sonic could see there was no malice behind it. It made him smile more.

Knuckles then turned more serious. "Rouge is right about one thing, though," he moaned, "I was stupid enough to forget all about the Master Emerald because I was caught up in all that fighting. If Eggman, or whoever's in charge now has it, he'll have more ultimate power than even Shadow can imagine."

Sonic placed a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "Don't sweat it, buddy," he said, "The Master Emerald's basically been gone for 200 years now. The new Eggman won't have a clue how it works."

"That doesn't mean we should just wait around twiddling our thumbs," Knuckles muttered.

"We'll get it back," Sonic nodded his head, "You know it."

* * *

**CALL IT A NIGHT**

* * *

The events from the previous adventure, plus all these new events on top of it have finally caught up to Sonic. He retreated to the barracks, found an unused bed, and finally get some well-earned rest.

* * *

_ **Alt. Scenes** _

* * *

_ **AMY & SILVER, ALT. CHOICE** _

* * *

**"Gee, lucky me…"**

Amy furrowed her eyebrows and tightened her fist. "Oh stop it!" she snapped, "Just once, can't you show me a little respect? You have no idea how lucky you are to have me in your life!"

Sonic quickly stifled any sort of laugh or chuckle.

Amy's temper looked to be on the rise. "I mean it!" she cried, "I've been very helpful more than you care to acknowledge! I deserve some credit!"

_-Apologize **OR** -Deny What She Says_

**APOLOGIZE**

Sonic lowered his head apologetically. "Okay, you're right, Amy," he said, "I'm sorry. You are pretty cool to have around."

As fast as she had become angry, Amy just as quickly turned happy. "Oh Sonic, I can never stay angry at you!" she chimed, quickly grabbing a hold of Sonic's hand. She suddenly pulled him in closer and wrapped her arms around his chest tightly. "Maybe you're finally starting to warm up to me!" She giggled and winked again, "I'm wearing you down, sweetheart."

Sonic's cheeks burned brightly and he glanced over at Silver, who watched the both rather awkwardly. "Um… Maybe I should call it a night," he said as he stood up, "I'll, er, leave you two alone…"

"Don't leave me with her!" Sonic cried as Silver quickly shuffled away. He was then left with Amy holding onto him tightly for a long, awkward amount of time.

"We should probably get some sleep ourselves," he finally told her.

The pink hedgehog let go and clasped her hands together. "Wow, Sonic!" she chimed, "I know you work fast, but are you already ready for us to-?"

"In _separate bedrooms_, Amy…"

Amy blinked, and slightly blushed. "Oh right… Eh heh heh… I knew that." She got up, giggling to herself, "We wouldn't want to spoil anything before our wedding night, after all!"

As she disappeared, Sonic shook his head, exasperated.

**DENY WHAT SHE SAYS**

Sonic defiantly crossed his arms. "Yeah, sure Amy," he snorted, "In your dreams…"

Amy shook in rage some more, though in her eyes, there appeared to be some hurt. "Okay, fine," she groaned, standing up from the table, "Have it your way… Just pray you don't find yourself deep in trouble and only I can be the one to help you!"

Sonic twitched your nose. "That'll be the day…"

Amy tightened up some more, then turned and stormed out of the Mess Hall. Silver looked over at the blue hedgehog. "Jeez, Sonic," he saod, "That was kinda harsh."

Sonic lowered his head. "Sometimes she needs to have it told as it is."

"Is she _really_ that useless..?"

As much as he wanted to say yes, Sonic couldn't help but recall a few times where Amy had really come through for him. "Well… not _really_."

Silver glared at him. "Then maybe you _should_ give Amy a little more credit in the near future. I mean, telling us when Little Planet will return's a good example. It wouldn't hurt to just be _nice_, anyway…"

Sonic glanced away. "… Maybe," you mutter.

"You do care about her, don't you?"

Sonic gave a low sigh. "Honestly… It's up in the air. Even I can't really tell."

"Well, you better figure it out soon," Silver stood up from the table, "For that poor girl's sake…"

Silver walked off and out of the Mess Hall, leaving Sonic alone at the table to think… After a moment, he got up and left the Mess Hall.

** _(Find Amy and Apologize)_ **

He didn't have to go very far before he caught up to Amy. "Hey Ames!" he managed to catch her by the shoulder.

She violently shrugged him off. "Leave me alone, Sonic!"

She stomped off again, but Sonic was right on her heels. "Come on, wait… Hear me out."

Amy stopped and violently spins around to face him. "Why?" she shouted, "So you can continue to humiliate me? So you can talk down to me and keep hurting my feelings? Maybe you don't have any respect for me, but I have enough respect for myself to not let you insult me anymore!"

Amy tried to leave again, but Sonic took her by the arm. "Amy, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Amy faced away from him. "Gee, you have a funny way of showing it."

"Really," he assured her, "I care about you too much. Maybe I am a little harsh on you at times. It's just…" He glanced to the side, "I'm not… exactly… well, _romantic_. Not like you, anyway…"

Amy casted her eyes downward. "I'm not this romantic to just _anyone_ you know," she muttered, "Can't you be flattered at the fact that you're the only person I care this much about?"

Shyly, Sonic rubbed his arm. "I am. Really," he replied, "Sometimes, though, it's just a bit much… I get you like me. But you know me, I'm always on the go. I can't stay put and be smothered."

"I'm not trying to smother you!" Amy protested.

"Well, sometimes it feels like that."

Amy gave a low sigh. "Sonic… I'm sorry. I guess I am a pest, then."

"No… you're not." Sonic took a hold of Amy's hand. "You're strong. Really strong. Maybe a little TOO strong at times…" He then flashed a charming grin, "But sometimes I'm too cocky. Sometimes Tails talks too much. Sometimes Knuckles is a little too gullible."

Amy smiled at you. "So… You don't hate me?" she asks meekly.

Sonic smiled warmly. "How could I ever hate you? You're the sweetest, caring, most diligent girl I ever met. And one of my best friends."

At that, Amy suddenly jumped onto him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. "Oh Sonic!"

"Arggh…!" Sonic moaned, "But Amy…. Seriously! You could stand to tone it down a notch!"

Amy loosened her grip. "Oh… Sorry." She looked up at him mischievously, "So in other words, you want me to 'slow down'?"

Sonic pulled away and rub his aching sides. "Maybe…"

"That's SO not you, Sonic!" Amy laughed and went in for another glomp. This time, however, Sonic was all too ready for her, and jumped away and made a mad dash down the hall. Amy was close on his tail, but he was humored by it, and the two gave out a laugh.

After a little running around, Sonic saw Amy fall back with a yawn and headed another direction. Must have been tired and heading in by now.

* * *

** _Note - _ ** _You would also have had the option to continue on without finding Amy and apologizing..._

* * *

**KNUCKLES, SHADE, & ROUGE, alt scene**

* * *

_(After Knuckles asks you for some support, you instead agree with what Rouge says)_

Sonic casually and innocently shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Knuckles," he smirked, "But you are pretty much a knucklehead. After all, you have basically lost the Master Emerald more times than I can count."

Rouge chuckled at his little joke. Knuckles narrowed his eyes even more. His body nearly shook in rage, and he looked ready to sock Sonic in the face. Hard.

Instead, however, he turned away and stomped out of the room.

Sonic scratched his head, confused. "Huh," he mused, "He actually _walked away_ from an argument. I could've sworn he was ready to try and hit me, or yell and scream even more. Wonder what's wrong with him?"

Shade respondws with a hard smack to his cheek. Seeing as she was much stronger than Knuckles, that smack nearly took Sonic's head off.

"What's _wrong_ with him?" Shade snarled, "YOU ARE! You, his own friend, just insulted him when he needed you to have his back! He helped you out this entire ordeal and stayed by your side the whole time! And this is how you repay him?"

Shade looked at Sonic with disgust, "You have been fighting together for years, I was told… I can only imagine just how horrible you are to him." She glared at Rouge, "And you are not much better. You may be beautiful on the outside, but inside, you're hideous." She glared back at Sonic. "_BOTH _of you are."

She then turned and quickly went after Knuckles. Rouge crossed her arms and stared down at the floor. "Well… he brings it on himself," she muttered, "I mean, he is an idiot. And gullible. And naïve. And a hard-head…" She glanced away, "But there's more to him than that… But you think I'm actually going to tell him?"

Sonic eyed Rouge… but didn't answer. '_Maybe I am a little too hard on the knuckle-head,'_ he thought to himself,_ 'Sure, he's not the smartest guy I've ever met, but I guess I do tend to forget the good traits he has…'_

But like Rouge, did he really want to admit it?

Since he didn't have to actually answer, Sonic decided to go visit someone else.


	4. Quest to Retrieve the Master Emerald

After a long, restful night, Sonic and his crew were up and ready to face the new challenges that awaited them.

Everyone convened at the Mess Hall and were all served breakfast. Unfortunately, with being located under the enemy's own city, a luxurious breakfast was not on the menu. Scavengers could only manage to bring in mostly canned foods and whatever leafy substance was available outside the city. But at least everyone could still get a well-balanced meal… even though the only thing that was remotely delicious was the toast.

After breakfast, many Resistance members headed over to a new room with a long table. Sonic figured that this was obviously the "meeting room."

Along with our familiar team of heroes, there were a few other Resistance Members joining, including Silver, Janae, Oydax, and the red-furred wolf named Tech.

"Morning, everybody," Silver started off, "Sorry for another lackluster breakfast. But I'm sure you all can agree we've got more important matters at hand than what's on our plates."

"Move on, please," Janae grumbled.

"Right…" Silver continued, "Well, to start, I'm sure everyone in the room is familiar with the legend of Sonic the Hedgehog, right?"

The room is filled with nods and murmurs.

"Last night, as you heard, there was a mysterious ship that entered the airspace over Metropolis Zone. Eggman Nega attacked, as suspected, but we were able to help those on board. Ladies and gentlemen of the Resistance… Let me introduce you all to the legend himself, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic stood up from his seat, and everyone looked up at him in awe and surprise. There were gasps, laughs, and eventually the room erupted in loud applause. Sonic smiled, waved, and even bowed.

_*ahem*_

He looked over at his team. Tails was looking at him proudly, while Amy stared at him with lust. Everyone else, however, weren't very pleased that Sonic seemed to be taking all the glory. The hedgehog sheepishly grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Um, yea, thanks," he said, "But I'm not the only one here. My friends are just as important, and really helped me out. This is my team… Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shade, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega."

Tails nervously waved, and Amy winked. Knuckles crossed his arms, Shadow turned away unimpressed, Rouge blew a kiss, Shade nodded her welcome, and Omega just sat there. Sonic figured he still appreciated the acknowledgement.

"Either way," Janae continued, "We've got a huge advantage against Eggman Nega now. As you know, the original Eggman couldn't even get his stupid schemes off the ground, since Sonic was ALWAYS there to stop him. And while he tried, Sonic got more and more back-up behind him. Now, WE have that back-up! AND Sonic's in the front!"

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Silver held out his hands, "First off, we can't just expect them to come here and battle our fight for us! Sonic may be the hero, but that doesn't mean we just sit back and assume he and his friends are going to take care of things."

Janae glared at Silver. "Um, HELLO!" she shouted, "Surely you weren't born under a rock! Did you NOT notice just how bad a crap-hole this world has become since Sonic and his crew left? And it's been this way for a whole TWO HUNDRED YEARS!"

"That's exactly my point," said Silver, "This world became the way it is because Sonic was gone."

"So that's exactly why Sonic NEEDS to fight Eggman Nega!" Janae spat, "If he hadn't left, we wouldn't be living this kind of lifestyle! We'd actually be HAPPY for once! Living in luscious green sceneries, and a whole beautiful world!"

"Which is why he and the others should be sent BACK," said Silver.

Everyone in the room looked over at him, curiously.

"You all don't remember Ifrit," Silver continued, "Because Eggman Nega summoned him from another dimension. It was the end-all for us… until I used the Time Stones to go back in time and stop Nega from summoning him in the past. Sonic could tell you all about it. That's how we first met!"

Janae dropped her head. "Ugh… THAT time travelling nonsense again…"

"It's NOT nonsense!" Silver hissed, "It's really come through for us before! You just don't remember because the events changed the future."

"Exactly!" Janae shouted, "You keep messing around and going back in time for just a cheeseburger, you might make things worse! Maybe one of us won't even be born!"

Oydax crossed his arms and glanced to the side. "Perhaps that would be a good thing, in YOUR case…"

"CAN IT, tin can!" Janae snapped, "Unless you want me to disassemble you!"

Oydax threatened his cricket bat, "I don't recommend that…"

"Stop!" Tech shouted, jumping up from his seat, "We're supposed to be on the same team! Fighting amongst ourselves is stupid!"

"Wanna know what else is stupid?" Janae snarled, "Wasting this opportunity. Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends are actually HERE, and for the first time in a long time, we stand an actual CHANCE at defeating the Eggman Empire! And you want to throw it all away for some stupid time travel nonsense that could probably destroy us!"

"Or make things better!" said Silver.

_"EXCUSE ME!"_ Knuckles suddenly slammed his hands on the table and shot up from his seat, "Are WE allowed to speak?"

Everyone looked up at him in shock. "If you speak nicely," Oydax droned.

"First off, I _don't_ appreciate being considered nothing more than just 'Sonic's friend' while you focus solely on him," the echidna growled, "Secondly, you're all so worried about time travel and a big, end-all battle against this Eggman Nega creep, you all forgot something very important… Eggman Nega has the Master Emerald!"

A few Rebellion members raised eyebrows. "The what..?"

Knuckles grit his teeth, looking more annoyed. "Only the most powerful emerald in existence," he spat, "It has unlimited powers, some even I haven't tapped into yet. It can control the Chaos Emeralds themselves, and grant any type of desire, if used properly. I've come across too many people who don't plan to use it so properly…" He cast a glance at Rouge, who glared back coldly.

"Only one thing," said Janae, "The Master Emerald is just a myth. There hasn't been anything that proved it ever existed. Not since…. I dunno…"

"Two hundred years?" Shade smirked, "There's a reason for that. Ix stole the Master Emerald when he escaped into the Twilight Cage. That's why we all disappeared. We were giving chase to get it back."

"And it got left behind during that last battle…" Knuckles murmured, casting his glance downward.

"I can see the dilemma," said Tech, "Such a powerful relic would not be good in the hands of Eggman Nega. We'll have to see what he's done with it. I have no doubt he cleaned out your ship by now."

"I'm surprised he hasn't become an ultimate being yet," Shadow said.

You nodded your head in agreement. "Knuckles, is there some sort of 'secret password' to use the Master Emerald?"

"Not a 'password' exactly," he replied, "There's a way to yield the emerald's power for your own bidding, but it's something only members of my tribe have been able to accomplish, including me. Remember our incident on the Space Colony Ark?

"However," he continued, "the Master Emerald has been known to bestow its power either on its own, or by other means… Eggman somehow managed to use it to fuel his Death Egg the first time we met. I'm not going to put it past the new Eggman to find a way to do the same himself."

Silver nodded his head. "Then it's settled," he announced, "First thing on our agenda, we get the Master Emerald back before Nega learns how to use it!"

"Then we get him, once and for all!" Janae thrust her fist.

"We'll play it by ear," Silver said.

Janae growls. "Seriously?" she snapped, "Do you people NOT want to save the world?!"

"Not with guns only half-cocked!" Tech replied.

Shadow shrugged. "That works for me sometimes."

"Our main focus right now should be the Master Emerald," said Silver, "Oydax, get in touch with the Spy Network, and let us know where Nega's at right now. See if they suspect anything involving a giant, powerful emerald."

"Ten-four," Oydax turned and left the room.

Once he was gone, Rouge gave a low sigh. "Finally," she muttered, "That color scheme of his was making me sick…"

"He-Is-Clearly-An-Inferior-Consumer-Model," said Omega.

"Hey guys," said Sonic, "Knock it off. These guys are here to help us. Quit gossiping."

"I dunno," said Janae, "Those stripes of his are an eyesore."

Sonic glared at the rabbit. "For your information, I've got the whole red, white, and blue scheme going on myself here."

Janae sneered, "In that case, you're an eyesore yourself."

Offended, Sonic jumped from his seat, really badly wanting to sock it to this rabbit, but Tails yanked his back down. "Pick your battles, Sonic," he muttered, "Seriously…"

Silver cleared his throat. "We'll reconvene in a few minutes, when Oydax reports back."

* * *

While Oydax was away, Tech took the initiative to pull out digital, holographic maps from his tablet of Metropolis Zone, and various floor plans of major buildings, such as Nega's headquarters, the Badnik factory, the prison holds, the lab, and another construction plant. The red-furred wolf explained how these were the major access points of Eggman Nega, and if he had the Master Emerald with him, he would most likely be in one of those buildings. Everybody exchanged ideas and hashed out plans where to go and what to do for each scenario. Sonic offered no ideas, but listened in, ready to take part when the time came.

Finally, Oydax returned to the Meeting Room. "You were right, everybody," he explained, "Egg-Neg cleaned out the spaceship these guys appeared on, and couldn't wait to use his new toy. The latest reports sighted him this morning heading to the labs on the east of the city. No word yet on any activity, however…"

Silver twitched his nose. "In this case, no news could mean bad news," he muttered.

Tech pulled up the hologram map of Metropolis Zone and pointed toward the right side. "Here's his East Lab," he reported, hitting a button on his tablet that brings up a live satellite feed. The block the building was located on is completely swarmed with robots galore. The wolf narrowed his eyes. "Just as I figured," he mumbled, "He increased security. No doubt because he's working on some new, big project…"

Knuckles tightened his fists and seethed. "How dare he use my gem for his own evil purposes."

"You're talking like this isn't something new," Sonic snarked, sparking a dirty look from the echidna.

"So how are we going to get past all that?" asked Amy.

Omega raised his arm. "We-Shall-Go-In-With-All-The-Heavy-Hitters-We've-Got-On-Hand," he droned, "Destruction-Galore!"

"If we do that," Oydax cutted in, "We'll only be inviting the entire Empire security to surround and bombard us."

Omega made some sort of offended whir. "Cowardly-Market-Product."

"I'll have you know I am NOT an actual robot!" Oydax snapped, "I'm a wisp, in the shell casing of a powerful Badnik!"

"I'll make sure everyone reads your profile later, Oydax," Silver interrupted, "Right now, you both bring up good points. Since there is increased security, we should hit them hard… But we could risk being surrounded and hit back."

"So what you're saying is let's call it quits before we even start?" snarked Janae.

Knuckles pounded his fist into the table. "That's not an option for me!"

"Relax!" Silver shouted, "We can make this work to our advantage. We've got plenty of people in our squad to split up in two groups. I'll lead Team One, the distraction. We'll rush in, attack, and then make a run for it. If we hurt them enough, they'll take us seriously and give chase, leaving Team Two a clear enough opening to get into the lab.

"Tech, you'll be in charge of Team Two," Silver continued, "You have the layout of the lab on hand. Since you know the ins and outs, I trust you'll find the most efficient way to break in and sneak around to where Eggman Nega is hiding the Master Emerald."

Tech nodded. "I'll do my best."

"I'm with Tech," Knuckles quickly announced, "As guardian of the Master Emerald, I won't sit around and let others correct my mistake." He pounded his fists together, "And if we get in trouble, well, I'm sure I can handle it."

Rouge let loose a small chortle. "Sure, you can, sweetie."

Shade rose up from her seat. "I'm with you, Knuckles," she said, "After all we've been through, and what Lord Ix has done, the least I can do is help you retrieve the Master Emerald."

Knuckles smiled. "Thank you."

At that, Rouge quickly jumped from her seat. "Me too!" she shouted, causing everyone to stare at her. Her cheeks slightly flushed, and she grit her teeth. "Only because I know Knuckles will screw up again. If and when he does, that Master Emerald's going to need a new home…"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "We'll just see about that…"

"I-Wish-To-Be-Part-Of-The-Distraction-Team," Omega announced, "It-Has-Been-Too-Long-Since-I've-Destroyed-Something. Specifically-An-Eggman-Product."

"Me too!" Amy swung her hammer around enthusiastically. Tails ducked his head to avoid an accidental bop.

"Count me in as well," Shadow gave a sinister smirk.

Janae rose from her seat. "Team Tech for me."

Tech looked over at her, surprised. "Really?" he barked, "You always found my work to be boring! I would've thought you'd want to join the team doing all the destruction!"

The rabbit twitched her nose. "Hey, why not try something new for a change? And besides, it can't be THAT easy. You're BOUND to hit some sort of obstacles, no matter how sneaky and discreet you are. Somebody's gotta save your butts."

"That's what we're for…" Knuckles grumbled, motioning towards himself, Shade, and Rouge.

"With all that brawn, you may need a little more brain," said Tails, "I'll come with you guys as well."

"Leaving Team One woefully short," said Oydax, "Good thing I've got my cricket bat. I'll go with Silver's team."

Silver nodded, and then turns to Sonic. "Well, Sonic, looks like everyone's chosen their team. What about you?"

After carefully thinking it over, Sonic decided to join…

**Team Two – Tech, Knuckles, Shade, Rouge, Janae, Tails***

Amy face-faulted. "Aww… you don't want to join me in smashing robots?"

"You-Will-Be-Missing-Out," Omega added.

Tails looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm a bit surprised myself, Sonic. I would've thought you'd want to be part of the action team."

"It's not about the action, it's all about the mission," Sonic replied.

Tails and Amy looked at him oddly, but Knuckles fortunately interjected. "Doesn't matter who's with who. Frankly, I wouldn't mind all the help I can get. Let's just get out there already before we're too late!"

Rouge grinned. "Somebody's itching for a fight."

"All right, everybody," Silver announced, "We've got our teams, and we've got our orders. Let's move out!"

* * *

Silver and Tech led the way out of the Resistance HQ and through more corridors. After many twists and turns, everybody reaches a break-off point, with three different tunnels.

"All right, this is where we break," said Silver, and pointed to the tunnel behind himself. "We'll head off towards the north and make our way through."

"And we'll head towards the east, making our way towards the lab," said Tech.

"Just remember to wait for our signal," Silver replied.

"What's the signal?" asked Tails.

Omega held out his arm, morphing it into gun-mode. "The-Loud-Explosions."

Silver scratched the side of his head. "More or less."

"We'll keep an ear out," said Tech, and headed into the right tunnel, "Let's go, team."

The rest followed. Tech activated a holomap on his wrist watch as he led on. "Keep quiet, everyone," he ordered, "There's a lot of security based around here. We don't want to end up attracting unwanted attention."

As the group followed the red-furred wolf, Tails began to slow up. Passing by Sonic, he took a hold of his arm and gently pulled him back, until they were both at the end following the whole group from behind. "Tails, what's up?" Sonic asked quietly.

"Be honest, Sonic," Tails said, just loud enough for only the hedgehog to hear and not the others, "Why are you really with us? Not that I mind working with you, I am your sidekick after all… But let's be real; between making lots of noise by smashing robots, and sneaking around for a recon mission, I would've figured you'd go for the former."

"Normally I would," Sonic replied, making sure to keep his own voice low, "But after what I heard in that meeting… I don't know Janae all that well, but I know she's a hothead who's full of herself. And Tech said it himself; she WOULD be likely to join the team with the most action. So it wouldn't make much sense for her to be on your guys' team as well."

"So your reasons are similar to hers?"

"Can't say for sure what her reasons are," Sonic replied, "But I just want to make sure she doesn't do something that'll make things worse. Especially since she's gung-ho about taking down Eggman Nega."

The bulb appeared to switch on in Tails' brain. "And this is the team that'll get the closest to him!"

Sonic nodded. "I run on instincts myself, but not so much to put the mission OR the team in danger. I'm here to make sure Janae doesn't do just that."

"I'd say you could've left that to us," Tails replied, "But then again, Knuckles is already focused on getting the Master Emerald back, plus Shade and Rouge are intent on helping him… whatever their own reasons are. Tech and I will definitely be working together. So maybe it's a good thing you are here."

The group came to a halt by a ladder that led to a hatch overhead. "This leads to an alleyway, just behind the lab," said Tech, "Once we're outside, we'll lay low until we get the signal to move in."

"Did we ever hear what the signal was?" Shade asked.

"A lot of explosions," Janae simply responded.

Knuckles shrugged. "Good enough, I suppose."

Everyone made their way up the ladder. After careful inspection, Tech gave the all-clear and they all climbed up above ground in an alley. They stayed low while Tech led the way down the alley to a metallic fence. On the other end was a large building with blacked out windows and tall smoke pipes. Sonic assumed that was the lab.

"Can we climb the fence?" asked Knuckles.

Tech shook his head. "Electrified," he replied, "I have to divert the signal of the currents to cut a hole first. But I don't want to take any action until Silver and his team make the first move."

"So we just sit here and twiddle our thumbs," Janae grumbled, "Perfect…"

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," Tech muttered, "We have to all work together."

"Yeah, yeah, teamwork and all that jazz," Janae groaned.

Right then and there, explosions broke out. The sounds of metal clattering against the ground rung through the air. There was clear exchange of gunfire and laser blasts, as well as more booming explosions.

"That has to be the cue!" Janae shouted, "Let's move in!"

Tech held up his palm. "Not yet. Wait until they clear out."

"Do you people NOT want to beat Nega?!" she seethed.

"Be patient!" Tech seethed back.

Janae shook her fists impatiently. Sonic kept a close eye on her...

_"Scatter!"_ they heard Silver's voice shout out. After a moment, they could hear a horde of robots charge one direction, and another go the opposite way.

Janae eyed Tech, and he finally nodded. He held out his watch and pressed a few buttons. A small section of the fence seemed to suddenly dull down. Sonic had no idea the fence was even illuminated. Had Tech not told him otherwise, he would never have known it was electrocuted to begin with.

Tech then pulled out a small but long knife and quickly cut a line down through the fence. He peeled it back, allowing an opening just big enough for everyone to crawl past. Once the last person was through, he climbed through himself and quickly pushed the fence piece back into place. Soon enough, it lightly illuminated back up. The wolf nodded. "Nega will never know it was breached."

"Now we just take out what's left and break in the lab, right?" Janae grinned.

"Wrong," said Tech, much to the rabbit's chagrin, "As far as Nega's concerned, we know he's here, but we can't get through the heightened security. But with most of them busy going after Team One, we can sneak through the side here, and Nega will be none the wiser."

Janae crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "Okay, fine, whatever, just hurry it along."

Knuckles glanced over at Sonic with a smirk. "She reminds me of a certain someone…" he mused. The hedgehog snorted in response.

Tech studied the holomap closely as he moved across the outer wall of the lab. "Here we go," he said as he stopped and knocked on the wall, "The air vent starts right about here."

Tails came over and examined the wall. He ran his hand down the side slowly, then upward. Vent flaps flipped upward. "Wow," he said, "I would've never seen that."

"Eggman Nega knows how to cloak any type of entrance," said Tech, "But all it takes is a quick investigation to find even the easiest of ways to get in." He knelt down and pulled out an electronic screwdriver. He then quickly unlatched the ventilation trap, sets it aside, then crawled in. Tails quickly followed, then Knuckles and Rouge, then Shade.

Sonic turned to Janae and motioed towards the open vent. "Ladies first."

Janae narrowed her glare at him, but then turned and crawled through. Sonic brung up the rear, and shut the trap in place behind him.

The crew crawled their way through the vents in a line. Being behind the last one with everyone else in front of him crawling ever so slowly was driving Sonic nuts…

"You sure you know where you're going, sweetie?" Rouge asked.

"Yup. Just keep going straight," Sonic heard Tech just barely, "The elevator shaft is right ahead of us. Either we can ride the car up, or slide down the cables, depending where we need to go."

"What about the Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked, "Can you tell where it's at?"

"I'm not finding any unusual activity, or even any kind of impulse."

The conga line of crawlers suddenly froze to a halt, and Sonic found his face almost planted into Janae's butt. She whipped her head back fiercely at him, and he quickly and nervously crawled back a bit.

"What do you mean?" Knuckle snapped, being the one that had halted his crawl. "Are you even sure the Master Emerald is in this building?"

"According to the Spy Network, this building was running the most power in its grids," Tech replied, "Not to mention Nega was seen coming in here this morning. There's no doubt he's here."

"Then why can't you tell what room it's in?"

"Eggman Nega has specialty made walls that prevent electrical fields and other foreign energy from penetrating."

"Course he does," Knuckles muttered, "That might explain why I can't sense it myself…"

"Energy shielding walls?" Shade grunted, "Sounds like Nocturne technology. Eggman sure made good use of what the Marauders left behind…"

"So what do we do then?" asked Rouge, "How do we find the Master Emerald if we don't even know what room its in?"

Tech shuffled around, trying to face everybody, despite the crowded vent. Sonic could just barely see him over Rouge's shoulder as he brought up the holomap on his watch. "While I can't say for sure where he may be, I can estimate two rooms. He has a secret lab underground, below us. We were never able to infiltrate it before, but we assume that's where the Top Secret projects are tested, and the toughest of security. That's a good candidate place to hold the Master Emerald…

"However," he continued, "There's an experimental lab at the top, near his office. All sorts of new weapons are tested there, plus an energy siphon. Both the Chaos Emeralds AND the Master Emerald have been gone for centuries, but if anything can tap into their powers, it's the siphon."

"Then why are we sitting around here for?" Knuckles spat, "Let's get to it!"

"That's assuming the Master Emerald IS in the lab at the top," said Tech, "Team One may be the diversion team, but there's still security all over inside. We can't really afford to check out both places safely. If we're wrong, we're caught…"

"Can't we split up?" Shade suggested.

"Too risky," said Tech, "One of these places is wrong. Once security is set off, we lose our chance at getting the Master Emerald back at all."

Knuckles grit his teeth. "This would have been nice to know AHEAD of time…"

Tails rubbed his chin, worriedly. He cast a glance over at Sonic. "What room would be the best pick then..?"

"Siphons, huh?" Sonic rubbed his own chin in thought, "Well, a secret underground lab sounds like fun… but I think we'll have better luck checking upstairs."

Knuckles nodded his head. "I agree," he said, "If there's siphons in that room, that's a good way to drain power from the Master Emerald."

"Then it's settled," Tech announced, "We're heading up." He turns and continues crawling down the vent. "This way!"

Everyone followed the wolf. After a while, he stopped at an empty shaft and peaked his head through. "This is the elevator," he says, "We'll climb up this shaft, and it'll take us all the way to the lab.

"Climb..?" Janae raised an eyebrow, "You doof. Let's just ride the elevator up."

"It's too risky," Tech replied, "Someone might notice the elevator mysteriously being used…"

"No, you're just overthinking things, Techno-dweeb," Janae grunted, "Climbing up the shaft is just as risky. What if it activates anyway? We'll be crushed by the ceiling."

Tech dipped his eyes downward. Sonic could tell he was starting to doubt himself and cave-in… He glanced up suddenly, as if to ask for Sonic's opinion.

"I'm with Tech on this," Sonic replied, "It's better to play it safe. 'Sides, we're all in tip-top shape, right? We don't need any elevator to reach the top lab in time."

Janae scowled at him, while Tech smiled and nodded. "Hope you're all good climbers."

Knuckles chuckled, and pounded his fists together. "Do you even know who you're talking to here?"

"Obviously not, since you're not from this timeline," Sonic quietly grunted to him.

Tech climbed out and lands on the elevator car below him. He pointed upwards with his left fist, and from his wrist gear, a grappling hook shot out, hooking onto a ledge far above, and he is pulled upward. Shade activated a device of her own, emitting an electromagnetic field around her palms, and easily made her way up the wall. Janae hooked her own line around the cable line of the elevator and began to yank herself up. Knuckles used his own namesake to scale the walls. Rouge simply flew upwards with the use of her wings. Finally, Tails took a hold of Sonic's arm and hovered up along with the rest.

Although it was many stories up, they all effortlessly made it to the top floor, where the experimental lab was located. Tech crawled through another nearby air vent, with everyone else not far behind him. After some more crawling and exploring, Tech finally halted near a grate. He slowly opened it up. Everyone peered out, and were able to make out a hallway, and at the end, two metal-plated double-doors being guarded by two large Heavy-Hammers.

"There's the lab," Tech whispered, "Right behind those guards."

"How can we get through?" asked Tails.

"Simple," Janae grinned, "We smash them!"

"Okay by me!" Knuckles smirked.

"Guys, come on!" Tech pleaded, exasperated, "You all rely too much on the cowboy technique, just rushing in. We've got to play this carefully!"

_'Looks like it's up to me to help decide on another factor…'_

"Tech's right," said Sonic, "We can't afford to be brought down too soon. We've got to give it everything we've got once we're actually in front of Nega."

Knuckles gave off a small grunt, but he seemed to agree with him. Janae, rather, shot him a dirty look.

"Thank you, Sonic," Tech smiled, relieved, "Come on, everyone. I know exactly how we can get into the lab." He tapped at his wrist device a few times, and a hologram of a floor plan popped up. "This is us, right next to the lab," he pointed to a small spec that was located next to a large, rectangular shape, "And this large, rectangular shape, as you can probably guess, is the lab. You see these small lines that just about border the inner walls, though? Those are the vents… And there are four corners we can reach."

"So we just reach the lab by crawling through the vents?" asked Tails.

Shade narrowed her eyes. "It couldn't be that easy…"

"That's because it isn't," Tech replied, "The lab has a ventilation system, but no clear-cut entrance to get in it."

Janae grit her teeth. "Then WHY are you pointing all this out even?"

"Did you forget about the four corners I'm pointing at?" Tech said, "I have some mini-explosives I keep on me." From one of his small pouches attached to his belt, the wolf pulls out a pouch. He opens it to reveal marble-sized orbs. "If we take out those four corners, the entire ceiling of the lab should cave in, giving us the entrance we need."

"And we'll catch him by surprise," Knuckles clenched his fist and grins.

Tech nodded. "But we have to work quickly. Once the orbs are activated, you have less than five seconds to clear away." He then looked over to Sonic. "Sonic, I know you're a fast runner. But are you by chance a fast crawler?"

The hedgehog crossed his arms confidently. "You name it, I'm fast at it."

"Count me in," said Janae, "I may not have the legendary 'Sonic Speed', but I'm pretty fast too."

Tech dipped his eyes downward. "I don't know, Janae," he said, "These are long vents. I'm not sure if you'd be quick enough to-"

"Look, don't you dare doubt me, okay?!" Janae snapped, "What? Were we all planning on sitting around with our thumbs up our butts, waiting for the great Sonic the Hedgehog to appear out of nowhere and save us all?! I've been doing dangerous missions longer than you, Techno-nerd! If I tell you I can handle it, then I can handle it!"

"Back off, lady!" Knuckles grabbed Janae by her rabbit ears and yanked her backwards, "You call yourself a team player?! You can't even work well with your own teammate! No wonder you're losing this war!"

"Shut your trap!" Janae shouted, shoving the echidna away, "You people can't just appear out of the sky and then take charge, okay?! You had your chance the save the world and you all left! So why don't you-"

"Stop arguing!" Shade shouted back, "You'll cause unwanted attention! And like it or not, this is ALL of our situation now! So play nicely!"

Tails cast a nervous glance towards Sonic, and the hedgehog recalled their earlier conversation together about why he was on Tech's team to begin with… He then let out a reluctant sigh and say, "Okay, Janae," he spoke, "Since I'm really not used to crawling on my hands and knees so much, maybe I could use your help."

Janae seemed genuinely surprised at his answer, but quickly smirked in response. "Thought you'd see it my way."

Tech sighed as well. "All right, but you better be quick," he said as he dug out four orbs, and handed each of them to Sonic and Janae. "All you guys have to do is crawl halfway towards the furthest vent, throw the first orb at the corner, then quickly crawl back and towards the center. Then throw the last one behind you towards that initial corner, then get your butts back to safety!"

"Crawl, throw, crawl, throw," Sonic gave a simple shrug, "Seems easy enough."

"Good luck, you two," Tech smiled.

"And be careful!" Tails called over.

Sonic flashed the 'V' sign at his crew and turned to crawl out… only to see Janae was way ahead of him. '_I never thought I'd say this…'_ "Hey, wait up!"

Sonic quickly made his way towards the lab vents, hoping Janae didn't do anything stupid along the way… He reached the end, which would only allow him to go left and right. '_Just great…'_ he thought in a fluster,_ 'Which way did Janae go?' _As much as he disliked her, he didn't really want her blown up…

"Janae?" Sonic called out in a harsh whisper. No response. He raised his voice slightly. "Janae!"

He thought he heard a small shuffle to his right. As he turned his head to see, he was suddenly met with an electric, metal pole clanking hard against his head.

* * *

_"Uuunnnghh…"_ Sonic muttered as his field of vision slowly came back to him.

"That's what they all say when I conk 'em out," Janae's voice rang out.

Sonic shook his head, trying to clear out the cobwebs, only to make his headache slightly worse. He finally was able to observe his surroundings, and noticed he was no longer in the vents, but in the hallways of the building. '_How'd I get out here..? And what just happened?'_

He also noticed he was being dragged. Looking down on himself, he saw his legs from ankles to knees were bound by a grappling rope, and he felt his arms and wrists hanging over his head, have been bound by well. He was being dragged by the rope on his wrists. He finally looked upwards to see Janae was the one dragging him down the hallway.

"Wh… what are you doing?!" he cried out.

Janae glared down at him fiercely. "What YOU did to me," she growled, "Betrayal… Backstabbing…"

"What are you talking about..?"

"Oh what, did you forget about what you said to your little friend earlier?" Janae sneered, "Don't think I didn't overhear what you two were saying. I happen to have long ears, y'know…" She narrowed her eyes at him, "You think so low of me that I'd actually do something stupid and get everyone killed… After all, why else would I be on Tech's loser team and not on the kick-robot-butt team?"

"Well, you did knock me out and are planning to do something bad to me," Sonic retorted.

"So what if I want to get close to Nega?!" Janae snapped, "Is it so bad to want to get back at him and stop the Eggman Empire once and for all?! So that I could live up to my ancestor?! I don't need you coming out of nowhere and dampening my legacy!"

_"YOUR_ legacy?" Sonic snapped back, "Is that what this is all about? YOU?! You don't care about saving the world or helping people, you just want to be the big hot shot! Newsflash, kiddo… I KNEW the original Cream. She's NOTHING like you are. In fact, if anything, she'd be ashamed of you!"

Janae dropped Sonic and swiftly kicked him in the gut. If he wasn't weak before, this really stunned his body with pain.

"Shut your mouth!" she hissed, "You think YOU'RE any better?! There were TEAMS of people against the original Eggman… and yet YOUR name stands out the most! How many people were really part of the fight, Sonic? Or do you not know because all you care about was yourself and making sure YOU got all the glory and credit?!"

"I… I never took all the credit…" Sonic moaned, trying to get some air in, "… I couldn't have saved the world without my friends…"

"Bull!" Janae shouted, pulling the hedgehog up to what looked like a drop-box. "How many of your so-called friends had their own video games? Cartoons? Comics? You don't have any right to claim 'teamwork' or sportsmanship when you're basking in ALL the glory. I bet deep down, you're actually a coward that hides while everyone does all the work, yet you take all the credit."

She smirked as she opened the drop-box. "That's what it's going to like in this scenario. You can't stand the idea of more than one person other than you coming out on top, so you went gung-ho and took off, only to get yourself killed. Then the world will TRULY see who Sonic the Hedgehog really is!"

"Janae, that's exactly what you are!" Sonic cried, "Get a hold of yourself!"

The rabbit hoisted him up and slung him into the drop-box. "Sorry, buddy," she grunted, "But you're not my hero. Not now, not ever."

She shoved him down and tightly shut the drop-after him, as he fell several floors down a chute. It was dark and he had no idea what he was heading for or what was below him…

Fortunately, he was in a position where he could tuck in his legs and arms, and curl into spin-mode. It was an excessively long drop, but once he finally hit bottom, he was able to shield himself from any major damage.

Sonic slowly unrolled himself and glanced around his surroundings. The room was large, but dark. Machines and robots were everywhere. He couldn't see them very well, but he could clearly hear their gears grinding. The only light source was far off in the other side of the long room. There were a few monitors online, which reflected off the bustling robots. Sonic didn't know what they were doing, but whatever it was, they're more focused on their tasks than they are on him.

He looked down on what he had landed on. It looked like a hill of old machine parts, as well as various types of nuts and bolts. He figured what he had just went through was a chute for scrap heap to be dumped down to… whatever this room was.

Looking back to the other side, Sonic tried to make out more from the limited light source. There were more than just the computer screens… He squinted, and was able to make out what appeared to be capsules, and indistinguishable, colorful floating beings inside them.

_'Are those Wisps..?'_

He thought back to Oydax, and recalled the fact that he was not a real robot, but a wisp trapped inside the body of a Badnik…

He looked around some more. The piles of scrap heaps consisted of various robot parts. The machines loudly pumped pistons, and conveyor belts carried parts from one machine to another.

Another nearby machine roared to life, as lights flashed brightly, and steam was let loose. After a while, it calmed down, and a new robot was released from a hatch. It was all too similar to what Oydax looked like, only bigger and much more frightening looking.

However, it only took a few steps before it fell over.

"OBJECT-F105-T. FAILURE. PROCEED-WITH-NEXT-SPECIMEN."

A few robots turned and made their way towards the scrap heaps. Sonic quickly rolled backwards, limbs still bound, and hid behind the heap. The robots didn't come too close, fortunately, and bundled up miscellaneous parts from another pile before turning and making their way to another machine. Another robot approached the capsules with the Wisps. They all huddled close together, shaking uncontrollably.

Sonic could only imagine what sick things went on in here…

_"Psssst!"_

"Huh?" Sonic turned around, swearing he thought he heard someone calling to him. In the darkness, he was able to make out a long cell against the wall. He saw what looked like an older, female hedgehog standing by the bars, along with many other prisoners behind her.

"How did you get down here..?" she whispered, "How'd you manage not to get caught?"

Sonic went to approach her, but nearly tripped. He had completely forgotten about his legs still tied up… "I'd like to help you guys…" he muttered, "But, do you think you can help me first?"

The female hedgehog spotted something behind Sonic and nodded. "Give me that thing," she pointed at the heap, "That sharp looking thing. I'll cut you free."

Sonic looked back, then grabbed what was once the edge of a sheet metal, and carefully handed it over to the woman. He then turned completely around and allowed her to saw off the grappling rope Janae tied him with. Once it broke off, he turned and faced the prisoners once more. "What the heck IS this place?" he quietly asked.

"They call it Eggman Nega's secret lab," the woman replied.

"This place?" Sonic almost cried out loud, "This is the secret lab?"

The prisoners nodded. "They had most of us down here for years," another prisoner replied, "I've been here for almost twenty years… but others, they aren't even here for a day before they're used as test subjects."

"Test subjects..?"

The woman looked away in sadness. "It's horrible," she mewed, "Nega is always looking for new ways to create a perfect robot army... He doesn't care who gets killed in the process…"

"Although sometimes…" a third prisoner spoke up, "Those screams I hear when they get roboticized… Perhaps maybe death is a better option…"

Sonic blinked. "Roboticized..?"

"Nega isn't just looking for living batteries for his Badniks… He goes so far as to turn actual, living flesh and blood into cold, steel metal…"

Sonic shook his fist in rage. Even Eggman himself never stooped this low. Eggman Nega just officially gained a new enemy in this fight…

"Please..!" the woman hedgehog pleaded, suddenly taking a hold of Sonic's hands, "So many of us… We have families. We miss them… We don't want to be down here anymore. Please! I want to see my son again! I know he's alive, somewhere, somehow… You made it here without detection so far… You have to save us!"

Sonic stared back at her, and the rest of the prisoners. He couldn't in good conscience leave all these people who clearly need rescuing behind. Every fiber inside of him was screaming to save them all. '_Don't you DARE leave them behind, you jerk!'_ he mentally scolded himself.

But then practicality set in. He had his head smacked hard by a metal rod- an ELECTRIC metal rod! And he was thrown down a long chute and landed in a pile of hard, sharp metal. Not to mention he could barely see what was in front of him… AND the room is filled with massive robots that he alone would be no match for…

Plus, his teammates were still upstairs, and they needed his help, ESPECIALLY with that lunatic Janae running alongside them…

"I'm sorry, everyone," Sonic replied sadly, "But I'm in bad shape right now… and I'll be no match for all those robots. I'm not in any condition to save anybody at the moment."

One of the prisoners scowled. "So you're just going to leave us here to suffer and die?!"

"No!" Sonic cried, "I am NOT abandoning anybody. But if I try something now, I'm just going to make things worse…" He took hold of the female hedgehog's hands, "Once I get back upstairs, I'll let the Resistance know you're all here. I'll come back for you… We'll ALL come back for you." He smiled, "I promise."

The prisoners look at each other, unsure and worried. The female hedgehog, however, smiled with hope. "I believe you…" she said, "You remind me of my son. Brave, but cautious… though still optimistic. And has a strong sense of justice. If you say you'll come back, then I trust you."

"If Serena trusts you, I guess I will too," said another.

"Me too."

Soon the entire cell gave Sonic a trustful nod. He nodded back. "Thanks." He looked around the room. "So… First off, any idea how I can get out of here?"

A prisoner pointed towards the right. "All the way at the end is the elevator. Aside from the chutes, it's the only way inside this lab."

"But be careful," Serena adds, "The elevator is coded with an alarm system. You can get in it, but you need a code to get out. Otherwise, you set off the sirens."

Sonic nodded. "I was with the Resistance's top tech guy," he assured, "I think I might know my way around."

"Quick," Serena ordered, "Hide behind the pile again… We'll attract enough attention to keep the robots distracted, while you make your way to the elevator."

Sonic did as you're told, and hide behind the scrap heap. He heard the prisoners talk amongst each other, which grew louder and louder, until it sounded like an all-out brawl. The cells clattered, and the door jiggled.

"Help!" Serena cried towards the robots, "It's becoming a madhouse all the sudden! They're going insane in here!"

The robots stopped what they were doing and made their way to the cell door. Sonic carefully ducked out of view as they called attention to the crazed prisoners, and tried to get them to quiet down. With their backs to him, Sonic quickly rushed to the end of the room where the elevator was. He opened the door, jumped in, and the door closed behind him. Made it without detection…

He remembered Tech saying the Experiment Lab was all the way on the top, so he hit the highest number listed. The elevator lifted upwards. Fortunately, no other robots boarded, so he was able to ride all the way to the top floor. But once he make it, he then needed to figure a way to get out… Serena had mentioned about not being able to get out without a code… Was there a trap door above perhaps? Or wait until another Badnik opens the elevator to get on?

Sonic didn't have to decide on an option, however… The elevator car suddenly shuddered violently, knocking the doors slightly off track. Sonic was able to push them open, and was greeted to a sight of the lab having been burst open. There were no guards; they were busy defending Nega inside. Sonic rushed towards the lab, which has nearly been obliterated. Scattered robot parts lay everywhere, and the inside of the lab shows signs of a massive battle. He had certainly missed out on something incredible here…

He looked around and took in what had happened. Janae was lying unconscious on one side of the lab. Rouge was nearby, defending her from robots. Tech was on the other side, near a control console, but he was frozen with fear, staring ahead at the situation.

Sonic looked over, seeing Knuckles and Shade, both standing in front of a freed Master Emerald, but both their fists clenched, facing off against Eggman Nega. He then looked over to Nega, and his stomach dropped.

Behind Nega stood two large robots, both with blades coming out of their fists. One was holding up Tails, and the other has its blade dangerously close to his throat.

"If you want your friend to live," Nega sneered, "You will give back that Master Emerald..!"

Sonic didn't even give Knuckles a second to think it over. He was already engulfed in rage, and in a blind fury, he suddenly charged forward at the bot holding Tails, spinning into its chest and destroying it in pieces. The other robot raised its blade, but Sonic slammed his body against it as hard as he could, managing to knock it over, but not destroy it. Shade rushed in to finish the job, as Sonic turned to Nega furiously. He looked like he's about to flee, but the hedgehog was already on top of him, grabbing his collar and slamming his fist in his face.

_"You sick freak!"_ you screamed, "All those things you do to those people below… and to those wisps! And now you tried to kill Tails?! NOW it's personal!" The hedgehog couldn't seem to control his anger as he tightened his grip and forced Neg'a face closer to his. "One way or another, I am stopping you in the worst-_ GYAAAAHHH!"_

Eggman Nega had somehow manage to activate an emergency electric shock mechanism from his seat. It struck Sonic hard, and after all his body had gone through earlier, he conked out.

* * *

...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I_DID_write a version for Sonic to go with Team One as well, which does lead the story down a different path... I'll probably post that one as a separate entry, so as to leave this a straight-forth story.


	5. Recovering Before the Mission

There was no way of knowing how much time had passed since Sonic's onslaught against Eggman Nega.

However, once he finally started regaining consciousness, he found himself in a bed back at Rebellion HQ, surrounded by some of his friends and colleagues.

"Sonic, you're okay!" Amy was the first to exclaim as she glomped Sonic in a tight hug.

"Oooo!" he cried, "Careful Amy, I think I'm still tender down there…" He looked around to see Silver, Knuckles, and Tech in the room with him. "What happened back there? Did we save the Master Emerald? And where's Tails? Is he okay?!"

"Tails is fine," Knuckles replied, "So's the Master Emerald. We couldn't have gotten it back without your reckless assault on Nega. So, thanks for that."

"I think that's the only time anyone's even been that close to Nega to land a hit," Tech gave a small smile.

"Tails is taking it easy in the lounge," said Silver, "Nice job, Sonic. Mission accomplished."

"Though I have to admit," Knuckles added, "Getting out was not easy, with you and Janae unconscious, and having to drag the Emerald out of the building while swarms of giant robots chased us…"

"Janae..?" Sonic suddenly clenched his fists at the sound of that name, "This is all her fault! She knocked me out when we were trying to get in the lab!"

"We got a confession out of her," Silver muttered, shaking his head, "She tried to say you got spooked and ran away, but after what happened afterwards, and you showing up when you did, her story didn't add up, especially when Tech and the others saw firsthand her gung-ho charge-in and attempt to go after Nega on her own. She didn't get very far before one of the guards took her out."

"I knew she'd pull something like this," Sonic grumbled, "Where is she now?"

"Solitary confinement," Silver replied, "We'll deal with her later. Right now, we're just lucky we all managed to get out of this alive."

"Oh boy, Sonic!" Amy squealed, bouncing on her toes, "You missed out on some great smashing! We had a successful run ourselves, didn't we, Silver?"

The silver hedgehog nodded. "Out of pure luck, we managed to take down a huge chunk of Eggman Nega's armies. I can't remember the last time we've had this successful mission! I think this calls for a much needed celebration."

Sonic suddenly remembered something. "We can't celebrate now!" he cried, nearly jumping out of bed, but Amy held you down. "Silver, there's people who need our help! When Janae knocked me out, she threw me down this chute, and it lead to the Secret Lab underneath. They do gross experimentations… They turn people into actual robots! And not the 'battery-life' kind… the actual TRANSFORMING kind. And if it fails, they throw them away like trash…

"There're prisoners down there, locked up!" he continued, "They have Wisps stashed in these tight capsules. We can't just leave them there, we have to go back!"

Silver narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like the things Oydax went through when he was turned into a Badnik," he said, "Okay, Sonic. I'll look into it."

"Look into it?" you shouted, "No! We're saddling back up and going back there to save them! I promised them I'd come back!"

"I know, Sonic, I get it!" Silver shouted, "But we can't make the same mistake Janae did and go in with only half a plan! The lab's on a bigger lock-down than before. We need to plan accordingly… and we're going to need YOU at one hundred percent if you're coming to help us. _So take it easy._ Leave the planning to us."

Sighing in defeat, Sonic lied back in bed. "Okay, fine," he muttered, "But you better be quick! And fully charged or not, once you're ready, I'm coming!"

"Then I suggest you rest up," Silver smirked and headed out the door, "Because I won't take long."

Knuckles nodded and left as well, followed by Tech. Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic's neck, planted a kiss on his cheek, and wished him well as she walked out of the room.

Sonic continued to lay in bed and try to sleep it off. But after a moment, he realized he already had plenty of time to sleep everything off.

So he swung himself out of bed and headed out to visit some friends.

* * *

**SILVER, TECH, & OYDAX**

* * *

After wandering around some, Sonic found Silver, Tech, and Oydax gathered together in the computer room. The computer screens have several floor layouts of the lab that Team 2 were all in earlier.

Tech was the first to notice Sonic's presence. "Hey Sonic," he greeted, "Good to see you out of bed already. We're just mapping out possible plans to get to these prisoners."

Silver looked over and nodded. "Maybe you can help us out a little."

Sonic approached the three. "Sure. What d'ya need?"

"You said something about being thrown down via a chute?"

"Yeah, like for laundry," Sonic nodded, "Only I guess it's for spare scrap parts. They must've thought I was just that, because they didn't even notice I was there. That's how I was able to sneak around, and came across the prisoners."

"Sonic," Oydax spoke, "Tech said you mentioned 'Wisps' when you were attacking Nega…"

Sonic glanced downward. "Yeah…" he muttered, "Lots of Wisps… All crammed in just a few capsules. They were doing an experiment, and… well, it 'failed'."

Oydax clenched his fist. "Egg-Neg's still doing those experiments… Doing what he did on me!" He whipped around to face Silver. "Silver, we can't fail! We've got to find a way to bust in there and save everybody!"

"We will, Oydax," Silver placed a hand over his, but also glanced downwards. "We can't forget though… There's still the Time Stones." He then looked over at Sonic, "I still want to send you all back to the past. If you're able to stop the original Eggman from even creating the Empire, it can save this entire future. Meaning none of this would ever happen!"

"Yeah, but…" Tech crossed his arms, looking doubtful, "Janae had a good point earlier. Changing the past doesn't necessarily mean things will become better here. Personally, I think it'd be best we ensure the well-being of everyone in this timeline first, instead of just banking one thing that could have unknown consequences."

Silver sighed and nodded reluctantly. "You're right…" he muttered, "Sonic, can you tell us anything else about this secret lab?"

Sonic told the three everything else he could think of, including the one and only elevator, which had an alarm system if anyone try to enter the lab from within. After telling them all he knew, they thanked him, and he left to let them plan.

* * *

**TAILS**

* * *

Sonic recalled being told that Tails was seen in the lounge area. After what happened with Eggman Nega, he decide to go over and check on him.

Sure enough, there he was, sitting on one of the many couches, staring down at the small table in front of him. Clearly a lot of things were going through his head.

"Tails?" Sonic called over as he approached.

The fox whipped his head up towards him and let out a huge smile. "Sonic!" he cried as he jumped up and rushed over, hugging his friend tightly. "I was so worried! You were unconscious for a real long while."

Sonic returned the hug. "I'm fine," you assured, "You know me. I've been through worse."

The two released their embrace. "What about you?" Sonic asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine…" Tails muttered, slowly sitting back on the couch.

Sonic roll his eyelids. "Doesn't sound like you're fine."

"I thought for a moment, I might've lost you…" Tails turned his face away, "I already lost so many other friends…"

Sonic took a seat next to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, buddy, you haven't lost anybody," he smiled, "It takes more than a few hits to keep me down. And once all is done here, we'll return to our time, and it'll be like you never left anyone's side."

Tails lowered his head. "I hope so…" he muttered, "But it's been over 200 years!" He tightened his grip on his crossed arms, "I can't imagine what everyone must've gone through… what they must have felt. They all probably thought we abandoned them. You've seen how Cream looked on those history files. So tough, so serious... All those years, all that hardship, trauma…" Sonic spotted a tear fall from Tails' eye as he quickly tried to wipe it away, "She probably went through things no child should ever go through…"

Sonic squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Tails, I promise," he said, "We're going to fix everything. And the next time you see Cream and all the others, they'll be the same, dopey, lovable friends they were when we left them."

Tails nodded, but he didn't seem to be quite assured yet. "I…" he started, "I just hate the feeling of putting them through what you put m-"

He quickly stopped mid-sentence, but Sonic already knew what he's talking about. "What I put you through?" he finished.

"Sonic, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Sonic held up his hand to silence him. "Tails, don't apologize," he said, "You're right. I do put you through the ringer a lot. More times than it should be considered fair. I guess it really does hurt you, huh?"

"Not hurt," Tails replied, "But maybe worry a bit…"

"I'm sorry to worry you then," Sonic smiled, squeezing Tails' shoulder once more, "You really do mean the world to me. Otherwise I wouldn't have lunged at Nega the way I did." He chuckled at that. "I promise, I'll always find a way back to my best friend." He then gave his traditional thumbs-up. "Just like you will for everyone else."

Tails smiled and returned the thumbs-up. "Thanks, Sonic."

* * *

**JANAE**

* * *

Sonic decided to explore through the halls of HQ a bit. As he turned one corner, he saw two Resistance members standing guard by a door. Curious, he walked over to them. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Guarding this room," one of the members replied, "The traitor to the Resistance."

"Traitor..?" Sonic narrowed your eyes, knowing exactly who they're talking about. "Any chance visitors are allowed?"

The two Resistance members looked at one another. "Well… we're not allowed to let her out, or anyone else in without Silver's say-so…" They both looked around quickly. "Though we know what she did to you, so…"

They stepped to the side. "Be quick!"

"And give her hell!"

Sonic smirked, nodded his thanks, and walked in the room.

Inside, he found Janae lying in bed on her side, her back towards the door. She glanced over her shoulder and grimaced at Sonic. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay," Sonic replied.

Janae sneered and turned back. "Yeah right… Get lost."

Sonic knit his eyebrows. "Okay, I admit. If you were REALLY hurt, I wouldn't feel VERY bad. But I just wanted to let you know how much of an idiot I think you are."

"Whatever…" Janae nearly growled, "This would never have happened if you hadn't come out of nowhere."

"Oh get over it!" Sonic shouted, "This isn't about you! This was NEVER about you! This isn't your story, or your legacy! This is about saving the world from the Eggman Empire! It's about helping you all bring peace to the world before we go back to our timeline! All you care about is getting your name in the limelight!"

Janae twisted around and glared at Sonic. "Look, when you're descended from a legend like Cream, you've got a lot to prove!"

"SHUT UP!" the hedgehog snapped, "It doesn't matter who you're descended from! Your history doesn't define who you are! YOU YOURSELF define it! And all that was proven was that you're a self-centered brat willing to endanger her own friends just for attention! You even put my own friends in danger… My best friend was almost killed by Eggman Nega. If anything had happened to him…" Sonic grit your teeth, "Then they would need to lock you away, just to keep you safe from me."

Janae turned away again, laying on her side. "Are you finished?" she grunted, "You feel better now that you got to yell and scream at me?"

"One more thing," said Sonic, "If there's any good you've done, you helped me find out what Nega was hiding in that secret lab of his, even if you didn't mean to. We've got a new mission now. We're going to rescue the prisoners they have hostage down there."

"Hostages..?"

"Yup. A whole bunch of them," Sonic replied, "People and wisps. So yeah," He turned to leave. "Thanks..."

He knocked on the door and was let out.

* * *

**AMY**

* * *

As Sonic wandered around HQ, he came across Amy, happily humming to herself as she skipped through the halls.

"Hey Amy!" he called out to her, "What's got you so excited?"

Amy turned, saw Sonic, and raced right up to his side. "Sonic!" she chimed, "I'm so happy to see you're out and about!"

"I'm sure that's not why you're singing to yourself," Sonic snarked.

"Oh," Amy twisted her arms and gave a small blush, "I do have something… or someone in mind…"

"Let me guess…" Sonic rolled your eyes, "Is it me?"

"Well… It's sort of Silver."

Sonic was taken back. "Silver?"

"Yeah!" Amy giggled, "There's something about him… I can't help but think…"

"Think… what?" Sonic was almost afraid to ask, but somehow he needed to know…

"I think that Silver…" Amy grinned, "… is our son!"

At that, Sonic almost fell over. "What?!"

"Think about it, Sonic!" Amy chimed, "He's from the future, he's a hedgehog, and he's clearly got your heroics!"

Sonic smacked his head (though he was tempted to smack her's first). "Amy, that's impossible."

"Are you denying your child, Sonic?"

"First off, Amy," Sonic groaned, "He's two-hundred years from the future!"

"He knows all about time travel," Amy replied, "Maybe he's from the past."

"Even so, how was he born if we never even... well... _got together_?"

"Time travel! Duhhh!"

Sonic sighed in response. "Secondly… There's no genetic link. He's got silver fur, gold eyes, chest fur, psychokinetic powers…!"

Amy shrugged. "Obviously he has recessive genes."

"Amy, we don't have time for this nonsense!" Sonic snapped, "For once, stop being so dumb!"

Amy blinked, her feelings look to have been hurt. She then knotted her eyebrows and grew furious. "Sonic, I'm just trying to stay optimistic here!" she cried, "How come you're never nice to me? Do you really think I'm so horrible? Tell me how you feel!"

_ **[Tell Amy You Care About Her]** _

Sonic sigh once more, and scratch at the back of your head. "Look, Amy," you start, "I don't think you're horrible at all. You're a sweet, friendly girl. But you just need to back off a bit…"

Amy pouts slightly. "Back off..?"

"A bit," he repeated, "I do like you, Amy. But you tend to take the idea of a potential romance way too far. I know you want to reel me in, but sometimes it has the opposite effect."

Amy turned her head, closing her eyes solemnly. "Oh… I see…"

Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder. "Truthfully, Amy," he continued, "You're at your best when you're focused on the main issue. When you aren't ogling over me, you really come in handy." He smirked and winked, "I couldn't of defeated Ix AND save the Master Emerald without your help, y'know."

"You mean it?" Amy clenched her fists in glee.

Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "Wouldn't say it if I didn't."

"Oh Sonic!" Amy grabbed him around the waist once more and gave a tight squeeze. But then she quickly let go and stepped back. "Oh, right, sorry."

"No big," Sonic chuckled, while rubbing his now aching belly.

Amy winked back at him. "At least I got you to open up to me," she said, "I'll take it as a good sign." She stepped around and headed off down the hall. "I promise, Sonic!" she called back, "I'll work hard and really impress you!"

Sonic nodded and waved her off before heading the opposite direction.

* * *

**ROUGE**

* * *

Sonic stopped in the Mess Hall to see if there was any good food around. He ended up settling for a drink, and as he looked around for a seat, he found Rouge sitting alone, looking rather glum.

"This seat taken?" he asked as he approached the bat.

"Help yourself…" she grumbled, offering the chair next to her, which he took.

"What's wrong with you?" Sonic asked, "Had another fight with Knuckles?"

"Boy, aren't you smart?" Rouge snarked.

The hedgehog blinked in response. "Wow. I was just kidding…"

"The guy's a total jerk," she grumbled, "Poor chump hasn't slept well since we got here, and needs shut eye. So here I am, offering to watch over the Master Emerald for him so he can catch a few winks. What does he do? Accuse me of trying to steal it from him! And that little twerp Shade is quick to take HIS side and force me away, like she's his new bodyguard or something!"

"Well, that's not nice of him," Sonic responded, "Though… you DO have a history of trying to steal the emerald from him."

"ONCE!" Rouge hissed at him, "I tried stealing it ONCE! But when it became obvious he wasn't handing it over so easily, I gave up."

"Then what about all those other times you went to go bug him? And tell him you were going to grab it once he looked away?"

Rouge sighed heavily and dipped her head downwards. She opened one eye and peered over at Sonic. "Sweetie… can you keep a secret?"

Sonic nodded. "Whatever you say doesn't leave this table."

Rouge sat up in her seat. "The truth is, Blue… I only pretend I want the Master Emerald. That way, I have an excuse to go see Knuckles on Angel Island, and he's none the wiser… even though I drop a few subtle hints now and then."

"By calling him a dummy and threatening to steal his emerald?"

She gave a playful smile. "Know any other hints?"

Sonic shrugged in response. "I thought you said he wasn't really your type. Too serious and all…"

Rouge narrowed her eyes at him. "And you believed me? You're as dull as he is." She turned away, sighing. "Thing is, it seems he's more interested in Shade. Who could blame him? The girl practically sticks to his side like glue. I say the slightest thing out of line, and she's on my case. She may as well get doggie treats from Knuckles for being so loyal…

"I dunno, Blue… It just feels like I'm losing my shot with Knuckles here."

"Have you considered treating Knuckles a little nicer?" Sonic suggested.

Rouge laughed in response. "Sure! When he stops painting a target on himself all the time."

** _[Tell Rouge She Has To Treat Knuckles Better]_ **

Sonic squared his shoulders as he faced Rouge directly. "Rouge, listen," he said firmly, "If you want a real shot at Knuckles, you have to treat him with more respect. Same species thing aside, the reason he seems to lean towards Shade is because she respect him regardless. You treat him like a play thing and expect him to fall into line.

"I get it," he continued, "He has flaws. No one knows that better than me. But there's more to Knuckles than a muscle-head buffoon. He deserves more than to be anybody's punching bag."

Rouge glared at him. "Some big talk from someone who treats him just as badly," she grumbled.

Looking back, Sonic realized that he teases Knuckles and makes a fool out of him just as much as Rouge. Maybe even more so... He gave a low sigh. "You're right… Maybe I should change that." He then glanced up at the bat, "And I recommend you do the same."

Rouge scoffed and stood up from her seat. "Lame advice, hedgehog," she grunted as she walked off. But she stopped halfway and looked back at you. "But… I'll keep it in mind regardless."

* * *

**YOU'RE READY TO GO NOW**

* * *

It isn't long before a Resistance Member was able to track Sonic down, informing him that Silver and the others were gathering in the Meeting Room. Apparently a new meeting was about to go down, and his presence was requested.

Sonic was escorted across HQ and to the Meeting Room, just as everyone was settling in. He took a seat just as Silver was about to start.

"First and foremost," he said, "Our last mission was a success. Great job, everybody! However, during the last mission, we learned more about Eggman Nega's secret lab… According to Sonic, Nega has several prisoners held captive for experimentations, much like the kind Oydax went through."

The Wisp-Badnik tightened his fist in response.

"Therefore," Silver continued, "On top of our last mission, we need to start a new one; Operation: Rescue! We're going to return to Nega's lab, free everyone captured, and then destroy the building once and for all so he doesn't do any sort of experiments anymore!"

The room erupted with cheers of encouragement.

Silver turned to Sonic and his friends. "I'm sorry guys, but we'll still need to hold off sending you back to your timeline a little while longer."

Sonic nodded and narrowed his eyes. "Fine by us," he replied, "After all, I made a promise to those prisoners that I'd return for them. And I do NOT intend on breaking that promise anytime soon."

"Then I guess it's settled," Silver announced, "Time to put our rescue plan into motion!"

Tech placed a small tablet in the center of the table and activated it. A hologram of the map of the western part of the city appeared above. Silver pointed up at the map. "Since our last mission, security increased vastly around the entire city, including the lab. There's no telling where Eggman Nega is hiding now, but that isn't important. As far as he knows, we're still in the dark about what's in his Secret Lab, so he shouldn't have reason to think we're going back to the building, especially since we got what we came for."

Silver backed out of the map, increasing ratio and showing more of the city. "Since we don't want to give away our position, ergo our plan, we'll need to set up dummy-attacks on all major sectors of the city. Meanwhile, our team will break back into the building and fight our way to the lab."

"AHEM!" Shadow stood up from his seat after clearing his voice.

"Um… yes Shadow?" Silver asked.

"I can't help but notice how much work you're putting yourself through just to get into a building," Shadow replied. "Let alone a lab you were never once able to access, and didn't even know what was in it up until now."

"If you have any better solutions, I'm open to hearing them."

"As a matter of fact, I do…" Shadow looks over to the blue hedgehog, "Sonic, you still have the Chaos Emeralds on you?"

Sonic double-checked his belongings, then nodded. "I do."

Shadow smirked. "I can do Chaos Control."

Silver's eyes widened. "Chaos Control… I think I remember that technique… You could just transport us inside the Secret Lab, couldn't you?"

"If close enough, and given an idea where to go, then yes."

Sonic gave a snarky grin. "Well, aren't you Mr. Deus ex Machina."

"That'll make things much easier then," said Silver, confidently, "Our team will make our way through the tunnels near the lab. Shadow, we'll need you to use Chaos Control to teleport us in. Oydax, we'll definitely need you to help hold back any robots in the way, and use your powers to shield us and the prisoners while we try to free them. Then Shadow will teleport us back out when we're ready."

Shadow crossed his arms and nodded. "As long as I get a piece of the action as well."

"Sonic, we'll need you to come along as well," said Silver, "I know you're just recovering from the last mission, but you know most of the layout of the lab already."

Sonic responded with a thumbs-up. "No sweat, buddy!"

"I-Volunteer-My-Firepower-As-Well," Omega droned in.

"I should come too," said Shade, "It seems Eggman Nega has made good use of the Nocturne technology left behind. I can help get around it."

"All right," Silver nodded, "Everybody else team up with one another. Tech will assign different sectors to each one of you. Remember, distraction is the key. We're not on any suicide missions here. If things get too tough, fall back and return to HQ. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" the room replied loudly.

"Move out!"

* * *

_ooo To Be Continued... ooo_

* * *

** ALTERNATIVE SCENES **

* * *

**AMY**

** _[Tell Amy She's Annoying]_ **

Sonic crossed his arms and stare Amy down. "Okay, Amy," he grunted, "You wanna know how I really feel? I think you're probably the most annoying person I've ever met! And I've met a LOT of people, trust me!"

Amy looked to get upset, but Sonic didn't hold back. "You are the only person who's not only just obsessed with me, but goes way out of her way to follow, interrupt, and just plain out STALK me! You think we're going to get married and have this whole life planned out for us, but newsflash; I DON'T LIKE YOU the way you like me. Not now, not ever! Get it through your head already!"

Amy stared at him blankly. Her body shook slightly and her eyes began to water. She then narrowed her eyes and her fists shook. Her entire face looked to be growing a deep shade of red, as if she was about to erupt.

However, instead of screaming at you, she twisted around and stormed away.

As Sonic watched her leave, he sighed quietly to himself. _'Now someone's going to hound me to apologize to her, as if I was in the wrong here for just trying getting her off your back for once...'_

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little bad for her.

He shook your head and walked off, thinking to himself that perhaps now she'll finally get the hint…

** _[Ask Amy About Dexter]_ **

Sonic crossed his arms defiantly. "I dunno, Amy," he said slyly, "We wouldn't want to make Dexter jealous now, would we?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Dexter..?"

"You know. Your boyfriend?"

"Oh, THAT Dexter!" she cried, "Right… Yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't want to see you as competition. Oh, poor Dexter, he must be SO worried about me right now. He must miss me terribly, and-"

"Save it, Amy," Sonic cut in, "I know he's fake. You let it slip earlier."

"I did?" Amy blinked, "Oh, I must've been mistaken, or…" She sighed, "Okay, fine, I admit it. I hate lying to you so much. I only made him up to make you jealous…" She eyed Sonic sinisterly. "Did it work?"

_ **[Yes]** _

"Well…." Sonic shyly place his hands behind his head, "…Maybe a little…"

"Yes!" Amy chimed, "It worked! You DO care about me! Now to just wait for you to finally confess your feelings for me!"

Sonic was about to dispute, but Amy was already skipping off down the hallways. You decided to leave her be. '_Don't pursue. You might make things worse…'_

_ **[No]** _

Sonic chuckled loudly. "No way. It was just another sad attempt."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Well, you can't blame me for trying," she muttered, "You're always so cold towards me."

"It was a nice try, though," Sonic smirked.

Amy huffed, turned away, and walked off. "Fake it all you want, Sonic," he heard her mutter, "I know you were a _little_ jealous…"

Sonic shook his head in exasperation before walking off.

* * *

**ROUGE**

_ **[No, You Can't Keep A Secret]** _

"Sorry, girl," Sonic grinned, "But the moment you tell me, I'm going to run over to Knuckles and tell him everything!"

Rouge twitched her nose in disgust. "Hmph," she grunted, "Fine… See if I ever confide in you again."

She got up from her seat and walked off. "Hey come on, I was just kidding!" Sonic called over to her.

"Nope. Can't take that chance," Rouge replied as she disappears out of the Hall.

_'Hmph… Something tells me I just missed out on hearing some really juicy gossip here…' _Sonic shrugged to himself, _'But then again, I've got more important issues to worry about.'_ So he finished his drink and left the Mess Hall as well.

_ **[Tell Rouge She Can Do Better Than Knuckles]** _

Sonic sighed and stretched his arms. "Honestly, Rouge, I don't see what you're upset about," he responded, "Knuckles is always going to be what he was, and I don't think he's going to change anytime soon. Let Shade worry about him. You can probably do better."

"Hrm…" Rouge muttered to herself, "Hate to say it, but you're probably right. It's a shame all the good guys are the ones not available."

"Hey, there are plenty of fish in the sea," Sonic smiled, "For instance, have you thought about Shadow?"

Rouge let a chuckle slip out. "Shadow?" she laughed, "Yeah right. Shadow only loves himself." She smiled more, however. "But… I do know how to get him to open up." She gavesa small shrug. "Who knows? Anything's possible."

"Just keep your pretty head held high, Batgirl."

Rouge gave Sonic's cheek a small caress as she got up and walked past him. "Thanks for the chat, Blue. You're really sweet, y'know that?"


	6. Operation: Rescue

Everybody piled out of the room. Tech uploaded a copy of the map to Silver's own wrist device before heading off to do his own tasks for the mission. Silver then lead everyone down the same corridors that had taken them to the lab before.

After another lengthy walk, they all made it to the same spot that lead to the lab. Only this time, instead of climbing the ladder out the manhole, everyone gathered by the wall. "Well, Shadow?" said Silver.

Shadow closed his eyes and concentrated. "I can feel it," he murmured, "There's much activity nearby…" He slowly opened his eyes as he gave a small smirk, "I know exactly where to go."

Sonic tossed Shadow one of the Chaos Emeralds stashed inside his gloves. He caught it with ease and held it up high. _"__Chaos CONTROL!"_

In a flash, they were all suddenly warped from the corridors into a dark but familiar room. Only this time, there weren't any experiments taking place…

Instead, there were armies of robots, all standing in a row, as if waiting for them.

"DUCK!" Silver screamed. Everyone dove to the side as gunfire and lasers suddenly rang out. Oydax was the only one who didn't dive, but rather placed up a shield of blue blocks to protect everyone. Omega jumped back and shot rounds of bullets himself, while Oydax joined in with his own built-in gun.

"Something's not right here!" Silver shouted over the gunfire, "It's like they were ready for us! Sonic, you said you were able to get through without detection. How would they know we were coming?!"

"I dunno!" Sonic replied "The prisoners were the only ones I talked to. I doubt they'd sabotage their own rescue!"

"Wait!" Shade cried, "Sonic, the other day when you attacked Nega head on, you mentioned something about what he was doing to 'all those people and wisps.' He probably figured the whole thing out himself!"

Sonic thought back to that moment…

_"You sick freak!" Sonic screamed, "All those things you do to those people below… and to those wisps! And now you tried to kill Tails?! NOW it's personal!"_

The blue hedgehog slapped his palm over his face. "D'oh!" he shouted, "I'm such an idiot!"

"Yes you are!" Shadow replied as he suddenly jumped into battle and started attacking robots himself.

"Forget it, Sonic," Silver said, "We'll just have to improvise. Find the prisoners. I'll cover you!"

Sonic quickly scanned the room, trying to remember where he saw the cell. He managed to locate the elevator, and recalled the prisoners being not far off.

"This way!" he called as he rushed ahead. Shade was on his heels, and Silver brought up the rear, holding off any stray attacks with his powers. They made it to the cell…

… only to find it completely empty.

"What?" Sonic cried, "No! They were right here!"

"How much do you want to bet Nega relocated them?" Shade snided.

Silver clenched his fists. "Nothing more we can do right now," he said, "We should just help the others take down these robots, and we'll search later."

The three rushed back into battle. Silver used his psychokinesis to take down the robots, and Shade's Leech Blades were strong enough to destroy them. Sonic, on the other hand, was having trouble keeping the robots down, no matter how many times he spun into them. These were nothing like Eggman's old robots…

One particularly large robot managed to land a hit on him, smacking him hard to the ground. Fortunately, it didn't have the chance to finish him off, as he was suddenly surrounded by a shield of blue boxes, just as Oydax destroyed the robot with his sharp cricket axe.

"Sonic!" he called, "The Wisps weren't moved! They're still encapsulated! It's too dangerous to free them, but they tell me the prisoners were moved to a lower lever underneath us!"

"Guess we gotta take the elevator then," Sonic jumped to his feet and raced to the elevator in the corner, grabbing Shade on the way, "Come on, we need you!" he said quickly as he jumped in. Oydax quickly got in with them, and they rode their way down to an even lower level.

The elevator stopped at its location, but the doors didn't open. Sonic recalled what Serena, the hedgehog prisoner, had told him… "We need a code to open these doors," he told Shade and Oydax, "Otherwise we'll end up setting off an alarm."

"Kind of redundant, seeing how everybody in this city knows we're here now," Shade muttered.

"Yeah, good point," Sonic looked up to the Wisp-Badnik, "Oydax, if you please?"

"With pleasure!" Oydax aimed his arm-cannon at the panel and blasts it to pieces. On cue, the alarms sounded, and the doors opened. Right in front of them were a line of guard robots, their pistols aimed and ready to fire. Oydax was quick to put up his shields to deflect the bullets as Sonic and Shade examined the room through the blue cubes.

Sonic didn't realize just how many prisoners there were. The cell above was large and everyone seemed crammed in it, but down here, there were two, much longer cells on each side, both with likewise crammed, frightened prisoners.

"Any idea how we're going to do this, Sonic?" Shade asked.

Sonic quickly surveyed the situation; Oydax still had his blue cube shields up while the guards were still trying to attack them. These guards were the same as the ones above, meaning his attacks wouldn't cause as much damage as they would in the past. But he also considered the fact that if they all went in to attack, somebody in the cells could get hit in the crossfire.

Regardless, he knew Oydax's cube shield powers would come in handy.

"Okay, first things first!" Sonic called out, "We gotta get these guys out of those cells. Oydax, can you keep these guards under wraps for us?"

"I'll see what I can do," Oydax held out both hands and made eight massive cube shields, which he used to encase the guard-robots ahead of them. "Okay, do your thing!" he ordered, "Hurry!"

Sonic and Shade ran down to one of the long cells. "You've returned!" said a voice within the crowd.

"Told ya I'd be back!" Sonic grinned as he searched up and down the cell bars, "Anyone know how to open these?"

"No idea," another prisoner answered, "There aren't any locks."

Shade examined the bars closely. "Nocturne material," she muttered, "Not many things can break through this." She smirked, however, and activateed her Leech Blade bracelets. "Lucky for me, I have what it takes to break it."

Sonic stepped back as Shade leaped up, slashing the bars with her pink energy blades, and slashed below, completely breaking off the bars. Prisoners quickly began piling out, while Shade rushed to the other side and repeated.

"Good job, guys," Oydax called, "But now what? These robots are relentless! And once I drop these shields, they're going to shoot everyone and everything! And there's not much room for retreat."

You scratch your head, annoyed. "I… probably didn't think this through all the way…"

"If only there was a way to contact Shadow," said Shade, "He could use Chaos Control to warp everybody back."

_Chaos Control…_

_CHAOS CONTROL!_

Sonic still had six emeralds on him. _And he knew how to use Chaos Control!_

"I got this!" he announced, "Once we're gone, you guys get back upstairs and help the others. I'll be right with you!" Sonic closed your eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, tapping into the emeralds' powers, tucked away inside his gloves. Like a sixth sense, he was able to locate the corridor he and his team had initially come in by, and he focused his energy on the released prisoners.

"Sonic? What are y-?"

_"CHAOS CONTROL!"_

With the help of the six emeralds, he was able to teleport himself and every single prisoner from the dungeon to the corridors. Even so, he didn't use Chaos Control that often, and having to transport THAT many people took a toll on his body. He fell over on his knees, and tried to stop the spinning in his head.

He was suddenly being pulled upward and brought into a hug. "You did it!" a female voice chimed.

"Serena..?"

The two broke their hug as Sonic faced the older, female hedgehog. "I knew you'd come back," Serena said with a smile, "Thank you."

Sonic nodded and smiled. "I don't know the way back to headquarters," he told everyone, "So if you don't mind sitting still for a little while longer, I'll bring back the rest, and we'll take you there."

Another former-prisoner stretched his arms. "What's a few more minutes?" he said, "I'm just glad to have room to more my limbs around!"

Sonic nodded, and then turned and focused his energy once more. "_Chaos Control!"_

He was then back with the others in the Secret Lab, which was much quieter now. The robot guards were all now laying in scrap heaps themselves. Oydax and Shade had joined back with the others, having broken through the elevator door. And the capsules holding the Wisps were now broken, and they were flying around joyfully.

"My friends!" Oydax chimed, holding out his arms. The Wisps floated down and circled the Wisp-Badnik with joy.

"Sonic, what just happened?" Silver asked, approaching him, "Shadow said he felt another chaotic force go through. Was that you? What happened to the prisoners?"

"They're safe," he smiled, "I used Chaos Control myself to take them to the corridor safely."

"How 'convenient' of you to suddenly remember you can use the Chaos Emeralds' power too," Shadow grunted as he stomped towards him, looking very aggravated.

"Yes," Shade added, "I didn't know you knew Chaos Control as well."

Sonic sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Sorry," he said, "It's not a preferred technique of mine. Shadow does it better."

Shadow crossed his arms and huffed. "At least you're willing to admit it…" He then glanced over at the blue hedgehog. "If you don't mind, will you use 'my' technique one more time to get everyone here to safety? Silver has asked one last favor from me."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What favor is that?"

"To destroy this entire building… with my _other_ technique."

"Other technique…?" Sonic suddenly realized what he meant. "Ohhh… THAT technique."

"The one I'm most DEFINITELY better than you at," Shadow waved him away, "Get going! You've got five minutes to get everyone as far away as possible."

"Stay safe, Shadow," said Sonic before he closed his eyes and concentrated once more. _"Chaos Control!_"

In a flash, he, Shade, Silver, Oydax, Omega, and the Wisps were brought back to the corridors, where all the prisoners are waiting. However, using Chaos Control this many times had taken its toll once more, and in exhaustion, he again fell forward on his knees.

"No time to chat, everybody!" Silver shouted out, "Move it! Make your way down this direction! Hurry! This lab is coming down!"

The prisoners didn't waste a second as they all turned and started rushing down the corridors. Shade took Sonic by the arm and helped him back up, but Omega suddenly swept him into his clawed hand and held him tight as he and everyone else raced down the corridor with the prisoners.

"Hey! Omega!" Sonic called out, annoyed, "This isn't necessary! I can walk!"

"Life-Sensors-Detect-51%-Decrease-Of-Energy," Omega replied, "You-Can-Walk-But-You-Are-Unable-To-Run. Allow-Me-To-Assist."

Sonic hated feeling helpless, but seeing as his body wasn't up to running at that moment, he gave in and allowed Omega to carry him.

At that moment, he sensed a sudden, extreme surge of chaos energy nearby. Following that, a loud explosion rang out, and the corridors shook wildly. Everybody fell over, some crying in panic. The built-in lights flickered, and momentarily blacked out.

Once things finally calmed down, the lights blinked back on, and the ground settled. "What was that..?" a woman asked.

"Chaos Blast," Silver replied, "One of Shadow's most powerful attacks. He'd said something about it during the fight against the guards, but it would also be 'overkill', especially since there's too many innocent people around. So I asked him to hold it until the end."

"Anywhere else?"

Everybody turned around to see Shadow casually approaching, throwing the Chaos Emerald he was given earlier in his hand. "That lab is no more. Nega wasn't in it, however… I could take the rest of the emeralds and turn this entire city into a landfill if you desire."

"As great as that sounds, Shadow," said Silver, "We can't risk any other innocent lives possibly being out there. Plus we can't just blow up all these factories. We may inadvertently cause a nuclear explosion. There's some pretty lethal material laying around the city."

Shadow muttered. "Of course there is…"

"Sorry, Shadow," Sonic grinned, "You'll have to wait another day or two before you can go gung-ho on destruction."

He sneered at you. "I wouldn't talk in such a state of despair you're in, Sonic."

Noticing he was still in Omega's hand being carried, Sonic face-faulted, then glanced away in embarrassment. "Touché…"

As he had glanced off, his line of sight falls upon Serena moving forward, but her gaze was fixed on Silver. The younger hedgehog was floating above, keeping an eye on everybody. It was then Sonic noticed something… Serena had silver-colored fur and golden eyes too.

And he did recall her talking about her son… Brave, sense of justice, optimistic…

_'Is she Silver's…?'_

He figured he had nothing to lose just to find out.

_"Hey, how you doing over there, Serena?__"_ Sonic said loudly. A lot of people jumped at just how loud he were. Serena looked over at him, surprised.

Silver stopped in his tracks and whipped around quickly. He looked down at Sonic, then over to the older hedgehog. Upon seeing her, he slowly dropped to the ground. Serena looked back at him, and grew a wide smile. "Silver..!"

Silver's eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared back. "M… Mom..?"

Sonic quietly snickered to himself._ 'Yup, I had a feeling I was right.'_

Tears streamed down Serena's cheeks, and she rushed over and engulfed the younger hedgehog in a deep hug. Silver was frozen with shock. But eventually, he raised his arms and returned the hug. The two dropped to their knees and held each other tightly. Sonic could hear Serena sniffling and hucking, but surprisingly, he also heard a second sniffle and huck as well.

"How sweet," Oydax said quietly, "I don't think I've ever seen Silver cry before."

Sonic lowered your head. "Dang… I didn't mean to make him cry."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, Sonic," Shade replied with a smile, "Though, we should give them their privacy, don't you think?"

Sonic nodded. "Good idea. Oh and Omega, you can put me down now..."

Omega placed him back on your feet. He and the others then ushered the freed prisoners down the corridor and back to HQ, giving Silver and his mother their much needed privacy.

"I still say we level the city," Shadow muttered.

"Not right now," Sonic told him, "We've done enough damage for one day. Time to head back and relax."


	7. Visit to Little Planet

A few days have gone by since the rescue of the prisoners. Happy reunions were made all around, including Silver and his mother, Serena. The de facto Rebellion leader was far too distracted to give orders and keep things in line. Luckily, Tech and Oydax were there to pick up the pieces, and Sonic and his friends gave a hand as well.

All had been quiet recently. Perhaps too quiet… It was almost troublesome…

That morning in the Mess Hall, Sonic and Tails were chowing down on breakfast together when Amy came up and joined both of them at their table. "Hey Sonic," she started, rather worrisome.

Noting she wasn't happily greeting him or trying to flirt, Sonic realized she was serious about something, and allowed her to continue. "Yes?"

"I'm really glad things here are lifting up," she said, "But we haven't actively watched any of Nega's actions… NOR did we look into going to Little Planet."

Sonic swallowed your grub. "Things have been pretty busy lately, Amy," he explained, "All of us just haven't had the time to get back on top of things. Especially Silver, since he's back with his mom again. We'll get back to work soon." He forked more of his food and crammed it into his mouth.

"I hope so…" said Amy as she pulled out a stack of cards. "Because I've been keeping tabs on Little Planet since the night Silver asked me to do a reading. We never got around to talking about it, but… I've been getting the same results every night; despair and uncertainty."

Sonic stopped chewing and swallowed his food whole. "Wait… Are you saying Little Planet's already here?"

Amy nodded. "I got the card of welcoming, which COULD mean it's returned after yet another crazy, new orbit… But with the card of despair, it could be in danger as well! Sonic, if Little Planet really is our only ticket home, we need to check it out and make sure we can get home! If there's something wrong, we'll be stuck here forever!"

Tails glanced up from his meal. "I was planning to talk with Tech today anyway," he said, "Last I heard, the Spy Network hadn't heard a peep out of Nega, but they're keeping an eye on things just in case. I'll make mention of Little Planet to him as well."

Sonic nodded your head. "Sounds like a plan." He looked over to Amy, "See? We got things."

Amy lowered her eyes. "I hope you're right."

* * *

Shortly after breakfast, the three of them decided to go over and check in on Tech. They first checked in the computer room. Sure enough, there he was.

Surprisingly though, Silver was there too.

"Hey!" Sonic called, "I'm surprised you're here, and not hanging out with your mother."

Silver smiled. "I have kinda been falling behind on my duties lately," he said, "I do love catching up with my mom..." He added with a chuckle, "But now even she's nagging me to get back to work."

"Speaking of work," said Tech, "I did get word from the Spy Network this morning. Nega still hasn't made any moves. But they noted while security has severely heightened everywhere, it's been increasing slightly more and more at his main headquarters in the center of the city." He narrowed his eyes, "There's a possibility that that's where he's hiding himself… but they're not able to figure out what he's up to. If he's increasing security more there than anywhere else, he might be up to something…"

"And we have to figure out what," Silver finished, "But Eggman Nega's no fool. We've pulled the wool over his eyes one too many times. We can't keep pressing our luck."

Sonic crossed your arms. "But it wouldn't seem right to just sit around and wait for the big bad plan to unravel."

"I know," Silver sighed, "But it's all we can do right now…"

"No it isn't," Amy stepped forward, "There's still Little Planet!"

Silver glanced up at her. "I forgot about that!" he said, "Did you ever get around to doing a reading to see when it next comes?"

"Already done. Several times now," Amy replied, "It's here."

"Already?"

"Well, Sonic and I did sort of knock it off course with all the time traveling we did up there the last time we visited," Tails said.

Silver hit his fist into his palm. "In that case, we've still got another option," he said with confidence, "We should get you all back to your timeline ASAP. The past needs its heroes."

"But right now, the present needs us," said Tech, "I'm all for fixing the past mistakes, but Janae did sort of have a point. Changing the past might not necessarily mean changing the future for the better… And personally, the war has really turned in our favor since Sonic and the others came. They've been such a great help."

"Yes, but they need to go home!" said Silver, "It's selfish of us to keep them here and have them fight our battle for us!"

Tech made a small, unsure moan and glanced down worriedly. Silver looked over at Sonic, Tails, and Amy. "You've all been a great help to us," he said, "But I know your place is in the past. And if you can stop Eggman before he starts the empire, then this war will already have been won before it can even start. What do you think is best?"

Sonic look down at Tails and Amy for advice. Amy nodded her head. "I think we need to check it out at the very least."

Tails gave a low sigh, looking indecisive. "While I agree with Amy, I also think that maybe we should take out the clear-cut danger here, which is Eggman Nega." He looked up at Sonic. "But we'll go along with whatever you decide, Sonic. I'm sure the others will agree with me."

After thinking it over, the hedgehog finally give a low sigh. "If Amy's right about her predictions, then we really have to check out Little Planet," he said, "Nega's been pretty quiet lately, and we're not even sure where he's holed up at. It's pretty useless to just sit around waiting for him to make the next move."

Silver nodded. "I agree," he said, "If we're going to get you all back to your timeline, I think now is the best time."

Tech lowered his head. "I hope you're all right about this…"

"Don't worry," Silver grinned, "I have complete faith that Sonic and the others will stop the original Eggman and prevent this future from ever happening."

"We can only hope," said Tech.

Sonic look over to the silver-furred hedgehog. "Okay. So what's the plan, boss?"

"Since time is of the essence," said Silver, "I'll need for you to gather your team. Once we're all ready, we'll head over to Never Lake, where Little Planet should be."

"That's going to be one heck of a group to carry over," Sonic murmured.

"We could take the Armored Van," Tech suggested, "That can carry almost an entire army without losing speed. Plus we can sneak out under Nega's radars. He won't even notice."

Sonic twitched your nose. "It's still considered driving… something I'm much faster than."

"Maybe so, but it's a lot easier," said Silver as he headed out, "Come on, Tech. You're with us. Let's set up the van. You guys go ahead and grab your friends and meet us all in the lower hangar."

* * *

Sonic, Tails, and Amy did as they were told, going around HQ and informing their friends and colleagues about the upcoming trip to Never Planet. Once they were all together, they headed down to the lower hangar, where a large, artillery-like battle van (complete with turrets implanted on top of the roof) was sitting and waiting.

Tech proudly went on how it was once used by Eggman Nega's troops, but when they manage to crash and destroy it, they took it back to salvage. He was able to fix it up and add more tech and weaponry, and they could easily drive around Metropolis without detection.

Once everyone was present and accounted for, they all load up and drove off out of the hangar, through long, steel corridors, until they came out just on the outskirts of the city, and into the outer lands, all without any detection from any of Nega's forces, amazingly enough.

Silver was at the wheel, while Tech sat across from him, studying a GPS radar device on the console, despite Silver insisting he knew the way. Tech said he only wanted to make sure there would be no unwanted surprises along the way.

"What if they find us first?" Amy asked, slightly looking worried.

Tech smirked in response. "This tank has a signal blocker," he said, "We won't be picked up on any enemy radar. That's how we're able to drive out of the city without any robots caring."

Shade rubbed her chin. "That sounds familiar," she muttered, "Let me guess… Technology from the original Eggman?"

The wolf nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes the empire has creative stuff we can use for ourselves."

The echidna narrowed her eyes. "More stolen Nocturne technology…" she muttered.

It became a long and somewhat boring drive towards Never Lake. Over an hour had passed. Sonic tried to break the boredom by singing about 99 bottles of wine on the wall… but Knuckles is quick to shut him up with a punch to the back of the head.

Finally, after an agonizingly long travel, Silver began to slow down the van as he squinted for a closer look out the windshield. "Hm… That's odd…"

Sonic leaned forward to look out for himself. There were a row of mountains ahead, which encircled Never Lake. There were thick clouds above, which were hiding the view of Little Planet… assuming it was still there. "What is it?" Sonic asked.

"There's a path that should lead right through the mountains and to the other side, where Never Lake is," Silver replied, "But up ahead… Something doesn't look right. The path is missing, and that mountainside looks… off."

"Are you sure you took the same direction as last time?" Tech asked, "Maybe we're on the other end."

Silver narrowed his eyes. "No… This was the way I took the last time I came to Little Planet," he replied. He brings the van to a full stop, then puts it in park and opens the driver door.

"Where are you going?" Tails asked.

"I'm going to take a closer look," Silver replied, "Just want to make sure everything's okay before we just drive on in. I'll be right back."

"Be careful, Silver!" Amy cried as Silver levitated into the air and hovered up to take a look around.

The hedgehog took to the sky, and cautiously took a look around. Tech continued to study the GPS radar hard. All seemed calm and empty…

…But in a split second, out of nowhere, there were dozens of red dots appearing from the north and rushing their way towards their location, complete with warning beeps.

Tech threw open his door and leans out. "SILVER!" he cried, "Get out of there! Badniks at twelve o'clock!"

Silver whipped around in shock, then quickly turned back, only to see nothing… and then in a split second, an entire army of jacked-up EggRobos came flying in from out of the blue, and immediately start shooting lasers at the team.

Silver twisted and raced back down, but wasn't quick enough to avoid a laser from behind, striking him hard, and sending him crashing to the ground.

"Silver!" Amy cried.

Tech slammed the door shut, threw off his seat belt, and raced to the back of the van. "I'm going to the guns!" he shouted, "Someone take the wheel!"

Tails quickly undid his own seat belt and jumped into the driver's seat. Sonic was about to jump in the passenger side when he caught sight of Silver, lying motionless on the ground. "Tails, hold up!" he shouted as he threw the door open and leaped out. He raced to Silver's side, scooped him up, and stepped away right before an EggRobo could shoot the both of them.

"_Chaos Spear_!"

Sonic looked up to see Shadow had engaged in battle against the EggRobos, with Omega, Knuckles, and Shade not far behind, throwing in their own attacks. On top of the van, a gun turret implanted on the roof circled around and shot rapidly at the remaining EggRobos.

"Sonic, let's go!" Tails shouted towards Sonic.

While Shadow and the others were strong, they were still greatly outnumbered… Sonic didn't like the idea of leaving them behind while they escaped.

But he was also worried about Silver. The hedgehog had took a nasty hit to the side and is beginning to bleed profusely. Could he trust Tails and the others to get him back to Metropolis in time?

He figured Shadow and the others could handle the EggRobos. Sonic's biggest concern right now was Silver and getting him medical attention back at the city. Holding him securely in his arms, he doubled back and hopped into the van, and laid him in the back seats. "GO GO GO!" he shouted to Tails.

The fox didn't need to be told twice, as he set the gear into drive and floored the accelerator pedal. He twisted the van towards the opposite direction and drove out of there as quickly as the van's engines could allow. The turrets could be heard on the roof continuing to blast as they all drove away. Sonic hoped that Shadow, Knuckles, and the rest would be alright.

"Hang in there, Silver," Sonic heard Amy say. He turned around and saw Amy holding onto Silver's hand tightly as his tried to use his other hand to cover his wound. "You're going to be okay. We'll be back in... about… uh..." She looked back up at Sonic, "How long did it take for us to get here?"

Sonic looked down hard at Silver. The hedgehog was breathing heavily, and his eyes were squeezed tightly in pain. The gloved hand that was covering his side was now turning pink from seeping blood. He clearly did not have over an hour.

"Not long enough," Sonic replied, leaning down and scooping Silver into his arms. "Open the door, Amy," he ordered, "I'll get him back myself!"

Amy carefully opened the door to the side, and Sonic jumped out, hitting the moving ground with ease, and blasted off with his speed, rushing back to Metropolis, just as Silver started to black out from the blood loss.

* * *

Once he made it back to HQ, Sonic shouted for medics, and was pointed towards the med wing. As soon as he got there, nurses and doctors from the med unit quickly took Silver from Sonic's arms and wheeled him away on a bed, taking him in for surgery.

Serena eventually caught wind of Silver being injured and returned here by Sonic. It wasn't long before she found him and bombarded him with worrisome questions. "What happened?" "Will he be all right?" "How bad is he?" "He's not dead, is he?!"

Sonic took her by the hands, assuring her he'll be all right. He's a strong, determined individual. He'll do everything he can to pull through…

The two of them sat in the waiting area in the meantime. Roughly an hour passed when Sonic heard that the Armored Van had finally made it back to HQ. He left Serena be to meet Tails and the others at the hangar, where they immediately started asking about Silver's status.

"I haven't heard anything yet," Sonic replied, "But it has been over an hour now. Maybe something's changed."

As they all made your way back to the Medical Wing, Sonic asked about what happened with the others. There was no sign of Knuckles, Shadow, and the others yet. He began to worry that they were overcome by the bombarding EggRobos.

Speaking of which, Tech explained what was possibly the case. They were cloaked, just like the technology on the Armored Van. They were hiding behind what may be an image of the mountains around Never Lake, but with that huge an army, it's likely Eggman Nega had already taken the area himself.

Amy was right all along...

They all returned to the waiting area, where Serena still sat, praying. A few moments later, a doctor popped in and asked for her to come to the back with him. The nervous woman stood with fear as she followed him.

"I hope it's good news…" Amy mewed.

"There you guys are!"

Everyone turned at the familiar voice, and breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Knuckles, Shade, Shadow, and Omega entering the area. Rouge hopped to her feet and raced to the others, wrapping her arms around both Shadow AND Knuckles' necks. "Glad my boys are okay..!"

_'I guess she still hasn't quite made up her mind yet…' _Sonic wondered.

"Did you guys destroy ALL the EggRobos?" Tails asked.

"It wasn't easy," Knuckles replied, "But we held off as much as we could. We barely managed to escape when things were getting harder."

"For YOU perhaps," Shadow huffed.

Shade rolled her eyes, "I didn't see you stay back when we had an opening to escape…"

Knuckles looked over to Sonic. "We probably could've used your help, Sonic…"

"No way!" Amy cried, "Sonic had to help Silver!"

"Speaking of Silver," Shade said, "How is he?"

"His mom just went back to talk to the doctor," Sonic sighed, "I just hope the news is good…"

At that, the door swung open, and the elder hedgehog slowly walked out. Sonic held his breath, hoping she wasn't just told what he hoped she wasn't told...

She turns to face the group… and they let out a collective sigh of relief as they saw Serena was in high spirits.

"He's going to be okay," she reported, "They had to give him a blood transfusion before patching up his wound. He took a terrible strike to his waist area…" She looked over at Sonic, "They also said if he was brought here just a little bit later, he would have surely bled out." She came over and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you so much, Sonic. You saved my son. He would've died if it weren't for you!"

Sonic returned the hug. "Aw, hey, anytime," he smiled, "I'm best known for saving others."

"It's a miracle to have you here," Serena replied, "Thank goodness you came into our timeline."

Sonic's eyes darted to the side, unsure. "Well… That was purely by chance. None of this would've happened if we hadn't even come… If we hadn't even left…"

"Well, you're here, and Silver's safe. That's all that matters."

Sonic crossed his arms and stared downward, hard in thought. "Yeah…" you muttered, "The only thing that matters now is Eggman Nega… Those EggRobos are definitely a product of the Eggman Empire." He glared back up. "One thing's for sure… We're not going back home until Nega's been wiped out."

* * *

Once Sonic had said just that, it's not long before people are coming to him for advice. Although Silver was expected to live, he was clearly out of commission. Without their de facto leader, no one knew what to do, but instead turned to Sonic.

The only problem was, Sonic didn't know the world just that well yet. He didn't know the situation, and what Silver may have had planned.

He managed to take cover in the computer room, where Tech sat alone at one of the computers. He glanced over at you curiously. "You okay, Sonic?"

Sonic sighed heavily. "I can't even catch my breath without someone asking me what the next step is," he replied, "I know I'm usually the go-to guy when it comes to saving the day, but I never considered myself a clear-cut 'leader'…"

"Can't say I blame everybody," said Tech, "After all, you were well-known for saving the world on practically a daily basis. Nobody knew Eggman better than you."

"Yeah… _Eggman__,_" Sonic emphasized, "The original, from 200 years ago, when he DIDN'T have control over mostly the entire planet and have all these armies of supercharged robots. Things are different. I'm still getting used to headquarters here."

Tech smiled at him confidently. "Well, you may be the most famous, but you were never alone." He raised a fist to his heart, "And you never are. We've got your back, buddy."

Sonic smirked and stuck out his fist. "Thanks, bud."

Tech grinned excitedly and bumped his fist against the hedgehog's. "So," he continued, "Does this mean you're up for taking over the role as leader?"

Sonic dropped your fist. "Me? The leader..?"

The wolf nodded. "Yeah," he replied, "After all, you're the best qualified. You may not know all about this new world, but you have a crew of members who'll help you out. Also, you do have the best record of kicking Eggman's butt."

Sonic sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… but… I can't always take the credit. What about you?"

Tech lowered his eyelids and glances away. "Naw," he said, "I'm more comfortable behind a computer screen. I don't have what it takes."

"It sounds like you had Silver's back pretty well."

"Well, sure, but that's just it. I have backs… as in I stay back. I don't really like being up front. The only other person who would've gladly jumped at taking over Silver's role as leader would be Janae, but after that last stunt she pulled, there's no way anybody wants to see her out of that room, let alone back out on the field barking orders."

Tech looked back up at you. "I even spoke with Oydax about it, and he agrees…. In fact, everybody in HQ agrees. They want you to be leader, Sonic. Whaddya say?"

Sonic smile and saluted. "Sonic the Hedgehog, at your service!" he cheerfully announced.

Tech returned the salute. "I should be doing that to you, sir!" he said.

"Okay. But none of that 'sir' stuff, got it?"

"Yes sir! I MEAN, Sonic!"

Sonic chuckled, then look over at the computer screen. "Okay, so bring me up to speed. What do we got here?"

Tech twisted around on his chair to face the computer screen. "Got some word from our spy network," he said, "There's all sorts of activity all over the city… but none more so than Nega's main headquarters. They've basically pinpointed him hiding out there, doing who knows what…"

Sonic gave a confident smirk. "In that case, why don't we charge in and find out ourselves?"

Tech whipped around, facing him with shock. "What? Are you serious?"

Sonic nodded. "Yup. Drawn out strategies and 200 year wars simply aren't my thing." He slammed his fist into his palm. "We're going in and we're taking out Nega once and for all!"


	8. The Fight Against Eggman Nega

Tech set up a new meeting, the first one with Sonic as the new leader of the Rebellion.

The group gathered in the Meeting Room. Once everyone was in and settled, Sonic took his place at the head of the table, where Silver used to stand. Just standing there was enough for others to figure out what happened.

"Let me guess," Knuckles grunted, "YOU'RE in charge now?"

Sonic smirked. "Yup. Tech asked me to take the reins."

"I couldn't have chosen a better candidate myself," said Oydax.

"Congratulations, Sonic!" Amy cheered.

Shadow crossed his arms. "Typical," he murmured, "Everyone flocks to the idol. Let's see if he can actually get something done…"

"I have faith in Sonic," said Shade, "Let's give him a chance. What do we have to lose?"

Rouge shrugged. "Only the remaining one percent of the planet?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks for your vote of confidence."

"Come on, everyone," Tails spoke up, "Sonic's never steered us wrong before. He's only saved the world on practically a daily basis. I know he's got what it takes to be leader and defeat Eggman Nega."

Sonic nodded his head. "Thanks, Tails. I'll do my best."

Knuckles sighed loudly. "Okay, Sonic," he says, "What've you got?"

The hedgehog leaned forward on the table and stared at everybody confidently. "My idea…" he started, "is to go inside Nega's headquarters and take him out!"

The room was eerily quiet. Members looked at each other rather uneasily. "And…?"

Sonic blinked, confused. "And what?"

There was a discernible groan amongst the room. "Better-Candidate?" Omega said over to Oydax.

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Hey, trust me!" he said, "I'm not just saying randomly going in and hope to get lucky."

"Because that's never worked for you in the past?" Knuckles snarked at you.

"I get it," Sonic continued, "Rushing in on the fly isn't really the Rebellion's thing. I respect that. And I know if we all did things my way, we'd be stuck in this war for another 200 years. I haven't been in this world for that long, so I don't know _everything_. That's why I had Tech help me out."

The red-furred wolf laid a tablet in the middle of the table and activated it. A hologram of the city popped up. "According to the latest reports," he reported, "Security hasn't changed since our last attack. However, the most activity, albeit slightly, comes from his main headquarters, which is where his last known whereabouts was reported. Nega hasn't been spotted lately, but there have been confirmed sightings of robots coming and going from that building."

He tapped the image of the headquarters, and it expanded into the entire building's inner schematics. "Security is clearly the heaviest at the base, on the ground floor here," Sonic pointed at the bottom floor, "So we need our best heavy-hitters on hand to take them out as quickly as possible."

"It won't be long before Nega figures out what's happening," Tech added, "He'll either try to escape, or prepare some kind of counter attack."

Sonic picked up afterwards. "That's why as soon as we get a clear path, the speedsters will grab a muscle or two and force your way to the top, where his quarters are. We have to get to Nega before he has a chance to react."

"Do you have a back-up plan, just in case your gung-ho rush-in technique doesn't work as well as you hope?" asked Shadow.

Tech tapped another button on the tablet, and an image of the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald popped up. "Everybody has their designated weapons," Sonic replied, "such as Tech and his Burst Gun, Oydax and Omega with their built in firearms, and so on. But we're not counting out the emeralds. Since they've been gone for two centuries, I believe it's time we use them to our advantage. They're our biggest trump cards to winning this war."

"Hold up, Sonic!" Knuckles rose from his seat, "I never agreed to using the Master Emerald for any of this. We've been through Hell and back TWICE trying to keep it out of the wrong hands. I don't want to just have it out and about where it could be taken again so easily."

Sonic gave a small nod. "The emeralds should be used only when absolutely necessary anyway," he said, "They should be our last resort. But I'd like to keep them around just in case. I think we can go without the Master Emerald for now. The Chaos Emeralds by themselves should be good enough."

"Keep them close by," said Shadow, "Once the floor is clear, I can use Chaos Control to take us all to Eggman Nega before he even has the chance to blink."

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Good thinking, Shadow!"

Tech took down the hologram as he continued on. "All right, listen closely everyone," Sonic announced, "What we need to win this are speed and muscles. Shadow, you and I are the top speedsters, but feel free to fight if you can lend a hand. Knuckles, Shade, Omega, Oydax, you four are main muscles. Everybody else stick close. We'll still need you to provide support."

The hedgehog clapped loudly. "All right, everyone! What do you think? Can we do this?"

There was barely a hesitation as the entire room erupted loudly with a cheer.

Sonic grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Let's do it to it!"

* * *

Sonic had different other members take positions around the city. No doubt once the main headquarters was attacked, backup would be called. Sonic had those members block their way in and try to take them down while the rest did their work.

Tech and Oydax led the main team through the underground corridors, leading to Eggman Nega's main headquarters above. Sonic didn't want to give any robots the chance to start their counter-attacks. Omega was the first to go in, using his jets to shoot straight up, crashing through the ceiling and outside the front entrance, and riddling the entrance guards with bullets and firepower. Oydax followed up, shooting his own built-in gun, until the front entrance was clear.

Shadow was next. He raced up the hole and blew an opening into the entrance with a Chaos Blast.

"GO! GO! GO!" Sonic shouted, as the rest of the team charged up and into the entrance. As predicted, more robots and Badniks were marching in. Sonic held back, allowing the Muscles to go ahead and take out the biggest and the strongest, while most of the others were able to take out the rest.

"Bottom-Level-Cleared!" Omega announced.

"Shadow, do your thing!" Sonic ordered.

Shadow closed his eyes and clenched his fist. Sonic believed this was his way of channeling the chaos energy around him. Since he had all seven emeralds on him, he figured teleporting everyone from the ground floor to the top should be no problem.

_"Chaos Control!"_

Within a flash, they were all transported from below to a new room. Robots stood guard everywhere. In the center of the room stood a tall, strange looking machine.

And at the controls, Dr. Eggman Nega.

He whipped his head in shock at the sudden group of intruders. "What?!" he cried, "How is this possible?! I have guards everywhere! There's no way you could've broken in THIS easily!"

Sonic smirked. "Sure it is," you reply, "when you have all the Chaos Emeralds."

At that, Nega's face seemed to ease up. "The Chaos Emeralds, you say?" he mused.

Shadow glared over at the blue hedgehog. "Sonic, something tells me you should've kept your trap shut…"

"It's no matter," Nega said, "You came just in time to witness my greatest feat yet! I would've rather you pests stayed out of my way, but you're beyond too late to stop me now!"

"Cut to the chase, Eggo!" Sonic shouted, "What's your devious plan this time around?"

Nega stroked his mustache with a twisted grin. "See, I could tell you my nefarious scheme," he said, "But that was a mistake my ancestor, the original Dr. Eggman, would constantly make and allow you to defeat him. He only managed to succeed because you disappeared for so long. But me…"

He suddenly slammed a button on the console. The double doors behind everyone slid open and in marched an army of Heavy Hammers.

"I would much rather keep you all busy as I finish up my work," Nega snided, "Badniks, ATTACK!"

The Heavy Hammers, plus the robots already stationed in the room, charged at the group.

"Fight your way to Nega!" Sonic shouted.

But it was easier said than done, he would find out. The designated "Muscles" of the group were holding their own against the massive Heavy Hammers, while the rest took on any other Badnik that comes your way. Sonic hurried towards the center of the room where Nega stood, but every time he took down a Badnik, another got in the way.

Nega was still furiously pounding away at the controls of the machine. Sonic caught a glimpse of what looked like a meter on top. The bottom indicated red levels, and the levels were ever inching towards the top, and glowing green.

Whatever Nega has planned, Sonic _knew_ it needs to be stopped!

"SONIC!" Shadow shouted within the battle, "If you want to use those emeralds, now would be a good time!"

Sonic wanted to save the Chaos Emeralds for when he really needed them… but getting to Nega proved to be tougher than he imagined, plus everyone else was struggling with the overwhelming incoming of Badniks.

But he was almost about to reach Nega..! Did he really want to use the emeralds now and risk having them shoot off to different parts of the world when he was done?

He decided Nega must be stopped at all costs! He couldn't spare a single second!

Sonic pulled out the Chaos Emeralds and took in their powers. His body felt more energized, and his power felt completely amplified. In a bright explosion, his fur turned from blue to gold as chaos energy flowed through his body.

Super Sonic has arrived!

In a flash, he flew across the room, plowing into and destroying any and every robot in his way. It was only mere seconds before every Badnik and Heavy Hammer was reduced to metal rubble.

Super Sonic glared across the room at Eggman Nega, who glared back sinisterly, and pulled a switch on the console. Sonic didn't know what it did, or what was about to happen, but he didn't care because he was about to destroy this machine. He dashed across the room at Nega…

And was suddenly frozen, literally stuck in place, mid-air and everything. He couldn't move, even to look around. He was able to glance up though, and saw the rods protruding from the machine emitting a pink energy, which had grabbed and paralyzed him.

"Ahhh… Beautiful!" Nega chimed, "Absorbing power from the Chaos Emeralds themselves! This power will more than be enough to finish my OWN copy of the Chaos Emeralds!"

_'His own copy..?'_

Sonic stopped thinking more about it as suddenly his body was shocked and started convulsing. It felt as if his entire energy was being zapped right out of him. His powers were draining, and his fur went from gold back to blue. He no longer had the strength to even keep his head up, let alone scream in pain.

"This is it!" he heard Nega cry in ecstasy, "This is the power I've longed for! This is more than enough to take control of history itself! I can now create my own man-made Chaos Control! Why settle for taking over one planet? I can now rule over the entire space and time continuum!"

Though Sonic was exhausted and in severe pain, he managed to hear all this and take it in… Nega had finally revealed his sinister plan…

_"Chaos Spear!"_

Someone in the group had finally decided to do something to stop this. Shadow shot a chaos-powered attack at Nega's invention. The machine was destroyed, but the results were still active.

The pink energies released Sonic, and he dropped to the ground in a slump. Every part of him ached horribly, but he was still conscious and knew what exactly what was going on.

"Noooo!" Nega shrieked, "You fool! You just overloaded it! I can't control this!"

"Then consider it a fond farewell, doctor," Shadow sneered.

Sonic snapped his head up. In the center of the busted machine, a strange, blinding light grows whiter and larger. Nega pounded at his controls furiously, possibly to try and stop it, but there was nothing that can stop this.

"We gotta get out of here!" Rouge screamed.

"Sonic! Come on!" Knuckles shouted at you.

Common sense dictated to Sonic that get out of here before he was caught in a rogue Chaos Control that could send him anywhere, anytime… But he couldn't risk losing Eggman Nega into the unknown, where he could come back at any given time… If at all…

Sonic was only given a split second to make a decision… Should he escape? Or go after Eggman Nega, wherever he may wind up?

He decided the risk wasn't worth taking. At least Nega will be gone for now…

He jumped to his feet and got back, only to fall over from the previous attack on him. Luckily, Knuckles was there to catch him and pull him back with the others, as they gathered close.

_"Chaos Control!__"_ Shadow shouted. The group was surrounded by a white light of their own, and were teleported back outside of the fortress. The ground around them was still shaking wildly, as a blinding spectacle took place high above.

"Look!" Amy cried, pointing up.

Everyone looked to where she was pointing. The top portion of Nega's HQ building practically imploded on itself, and disappeared in a flash of light. Things were suddenly calm and quiet.

"Is… is he gone?" Shade asked.

Tech stared in disbelief. "The top part of his headquarters is completely wiped out…" he murmured, "There's no way he could've survived that…"

"Oh he could've," Shadow replied, "That was no explosion. That was a massive Chaos Control he activated. He took with him all his worthless scrap as well as his building." He lowered his head, "But I had to use what was left of the Chaos Emeralds' powers to warp us to safety…"

Everyone looked over to the ground, where seven, dull-colored gems laid.

"The emeralds..!" Tails breathed, "They got zapped…"

"Nega drained whatever power left they had… AND Sonic's as well," said Knuckles.

"Didn't he say something about having his OWN Chaos Emeralds?" Rouge asked.

"You can't make your own Chaos Emeralds," Shadow replied, "No matter how powerful you create them to be, they'll always be inferior to the real deal." He looked over to Tails, "You should know. That fake emerald you brought on the Space Colony Ark fell apart shortly afterwards, correct?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah…"

Tech lowered his head. "Then… Nega has no way of getting back…" he said, "Nega… Nega's gone! He's defeated!" He shot his head back up, his face overwhelmed with joy. "Oydax, we did it! We actually beat the Eggman Empire! WE WON!"

"Did we just hear what we thought we heard?!"

The group of heroes turned to find more of the Resistance members making their way towards them. "Did you say Eggman Nega is GONE?!"

Oydax jumped forward, "You heard us right!" he shouted, holding his cricket bat high up in victory, "This war is OVER!"

There was suddenly a loud cry of triumph made around the block. More and more Resistance members arrived in celebration. It wasn't long before all that took part meet up with Sonic and his crew. There were hugs, high fives, and even kisses all around. Oydax grabbed Tech and tossed him into the air in excitement. Amy grabbed Sonic around the neck and hugged him tightly. Even Tails wrapped his arms around his waist.

Sonic excitedly looked over to Knuckles, and saw Rouge was about to sneak a hug on him… but then he stepped away, putting a hand on Shade's shoulder. She smiled at him and patted his hand. Rouge face faulted and stepped back, sighing.

Sonic think about going over to cheer her up, but he was suddenly hoisted into the air and onto some shoulders of Resistance Members. Tails, Amy, and Tech were suddenly brought up too, and not long after, Knuckles, Shade, and Rouge. Somebody tried to pick up Shadow, but he shoved them away and grunted about being capable of walking on his own.

The heroes were carried down the street and back to the Resistance headquarters to share the good news and take part in the celebration.


	9. Relaxin' and Chattin'

Several days had passed since Sonic and his team stormed Nega's headquarters and took him out once and for all. With no threat from above, the once crowded Resistance hideout became a lot quieter as more people began going up and about into the city. Since Nega disappeared, not a single robot threatened them. Tech surmised that when he was teleported away, the command signal was disrupted, so there was nothing for them to take orders from. They became still and lifeless almost instantly.

Tech and Tails were able to work around this, however. After some hacking and searching, they came across the commands and reprogrammed them so that all the robots and Badniks in the city were now working for _them._ This included helping with clean up, assisting the innocent citizens, and even rescue operations.

More and more prisoners were being discovered and rescued, and more happy reunions were being made. What was once a hostile city filled with factories was now becoming a new sanctuary that homed refugees.

Tech stayed on top of the progress of the city, and mostly holed himself inside the computer room. Knuckles had taken the Chaos Emeralds and mentioned something about trying to use the Master Emerald with them... Sonic didn't see much of him since.

Everybody else was out doing their own thing. Sonic figured that he might need to get some stuff done, but he also wanted to check in on his friends, as well as relax and unwind a bit before moving on to the next important thing…

* * *

**TECH & TAILS**

* * *

Sonic curiously headed to the computer room, and sure enough, there was Tech, with Tails sitting close by.

"Boy, you two are a match made in heaven," Sonic joked, "I haven't seen you leave each other's sides since all this."

Tails gave a small chuckle. "Tech's been taking on a lot of responsibility," he replied, "I just want to help out wherever I can."

"When haven't you been helpful?" Sonic smiled, and then peered over at Tech's screen, "So how goes it?"

"Everything's going great," Tech smiles broadly, "Without Nega, all the robots he's ever created have no objective. We found a way to command them to help us rather than destroy us."

He pulled up another program on his computer. "Check it out," he said, "Even all over the world, this signal is going out. People were surprised to find Nega's armies suddenly helping them instead of attacking… But I got the message out. Now it's known worldwide that Nega's gone, and we won."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Hard to believe Nega was the only non-robot on the evil side," he murmured, "Didn't he have any subordinates posted around the globe?"

"That's a given," said Tech, "But so did we. Unfortunately, over the years, our numbers shrank while Nega's grew…" He smiled broadly, "But with the Badniks under our orders, anyone who's still a Nega supporter is already taken into custody. We are not about to let evil take over once again."

The wolf turned in his seat and looked up at Sonic earnestly. "This never would have happened if you hadn't come here, Sonic…" He held out his hand, "Thank you."

Sonic smirked and shook the offered hand. "It's what I do."

Tails grinned. "Sonic's always been a beacon of hope, no matter where he is."

"Aw shucks, Tails," Sonic bashfully placed his hand behind his head, "I'd be nothing without you guys."

"But you're definitely the strongest out of all of us," said Tails, "Why else would your name be the most recognized?"

Sonic glanced down to the floor. "Hey buddy…" he said softly, "Don't sell yourself short."

Tails looked downward. "But it's true…" he muttered, "You always managed to keep Eggman down. But once you were gone, his empire took over. Now that you've returned, it's been brought down again." The fox looked back up at his friend. "You've got to give yourself some credit, Sonic."

The hedgehog shrugged, "I'm not the only one who left and came back," he told him, "Sure I took charge, but this clearly wasn't a solo show. You all played a part too. Big name or not, I'm not one to hog all the credit."

Tech glanced over at Tails, who gave a sheepish smile of his own. "Yeah, you're right," Tails replied.

"But don't think we're not grateful for all you've done," Tech added on, "You deserve a rest. Go on, we'll handle this part."

Sonic nodded. "All right. Don't work too hard, okay?"

Tech and Tails waved at him as he left the computer room and headed off elsewhere.

* * *

**SILVER**

* * *

Sonic made his way to the med unit, and located Silver's room. As he came closer, you could hear voices on the other side of his door.

_"Sweetie, you shouldn't be walking around so much. You need to save your strength."_

_"Aw, come on, Mom, I feel just fine. I wouldn't be up if I didn't."_

The door was slightly ajar, and Sonic went ahead and peeked in. Silver was in fact out of bed, and back in his regular clothes (simply consisting of his gloves and boots), though his waist was tightly bandaged.

Serena was standing nearby, her hands on his shoulders. She gave a heavy sigh while shaking her head. "Oh Silver… I haven't seen you in years. I don't often get the chance to mother you."

Silver smiled bashfully. "Well… I guess it's not so bad, then… But still…"

Sonic knocked on the door. "Sorry to interrupt," he said as he let himself in.

Silver smiled at your presence. "Hey Sonic!" he greeted, "It's fine. It's good to see you."

"Ditto," Sonic replied, "I'm glad you're up and about again."

"I have you to thank for that… I was told you got me here yourself, just in the nick of time. I'd be dead if it weren't for you." Silver held out his hand, "Thank you for saving me."

Sonic took a hold of his hand. "It's what I do," he said, "Besides, it shouldn't have happened… You stuck your neck out for us."

"Stop that," said Silver, "You've done more than enough for us. The only person to blame for any of this is Eggman and his empire." He smirked at you, "Which I heard is no longer an issue. Congrats on that major win, by the way."

"Thanks!" Sonic grinned, "Wish you were there to see it."

"Yeah…" Silver lowered his head, glancing to the side.

Sonic of course, picked up on this. "What's the matter?" he asked, "Don't tell me you're jealous 'cause you weren't in charge when we won."

"No, of course not!" Silver snapped his head back, "You're mistaking me for Janae." He gave a low sigh, "It's just… It's hard to believe Eggman Nega is really gone."

"I guess it's a huge change for you now, huh?" said Sonic.

Silver shook his head. "No… I mean, I don't think he's really gone." He narrowed his eyes, "Not that I don't appreciate what you've done, but it just seemed too easy. Besides, no matter where he ended up, what's to stop him from coming back and attacking again?"

"I see…" Sonic muttered, "Good point."

Silver nodded his head. "I just don't think we've quite won yet."

"And you're not done fighting until you know for sure he's properly dealt with?" Sonic finished.

"Exactly."

"And you just can't give it a rest, can you, son?" Serena cut in.

Silver glanced over at her, and his face softened. "Mother… I…" he lowered his head.

"We're finally at peace… and you want to go back out in the battle field?"

Silver rubbed at his arm in guilt. "You're right," he murmured, "I'm sorry. We've been apart for so long, we should really focus on being together again…"

Serena smiled, but it slowly began to fade. "Let me guess…" she said, "You can't truly be at peace knowing you can do so much more to help others."

Silver gave a faint smile, "It's like you know me."

Serena started to smile again herself, "You're so much like your father."

"Father..?"

"I would love to tell you more stories about him…" Serena reached up and caressed Silver's cheek, "So that's why I need you to come back to me alive and well."

Silver smiled broadly as he nodded, and the two embraced each other tightly. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Silver."

Sonic watched the tearful scene, keeping his emotions stone-like as possible. No matter how sweet the scenario, it would ruin his rep to shed even a single tear.

_….. *sniffle*_

* * *

**JANAE**

* * *

As Sonic walked through the halls of HQ, he passed a familiar room, complete with two guards standing by the doorway.

"How she doing?" he asked.

"Hasn't made much noise lately," one of the guards responded, "Not since the defeat of Nega… Must've really dampened her spirits."

Sonic twitched his nose, then gave a small sigh. No matter how much he disliked her, he couldn't help but feel just a bit sorry for her. "Maybe she could use a little company…"

"Well, seeing how she hasn't had any company since she was ordered into isolation…" The guards glanced left and right, making sure the coast was clear, then stepped to the side. "Go ahead."

Sonic allowed himself inside. The room was dark, and Janae was sitting on the edge of her bed, facing the corner.

"Could you look possibly any happier?" Sonic snarked.

"What do you want?" Janae muttered, not looking at him once.

"Wanted to make sure you were okay," Sonic replied, "And by the look of this bright room, I think you could a little pick-me-up."

"You're the last person who could cheer me up," she grumbled, "You took away my destiny, and to make matters worse, YOU led the charge that defeated Eggman Nega!"

"Yeah, that's exactly why I came to this timeline," Sonic groaned, "It was all to just piss you off."

"Well, it worked…"

Sonic sighed and stared at the ground. "Look… I'm sorry you expected so much from yourself that you lost sight of the real goal. Maybe it was a good thing I came here."

"I just hope you're satisfied…" Janae grunted.

Sonic glared back up and tightened his look. "I am," he responded, "I'm not gonna lie. I have an ego too. Getting all this attention, being praised, being the hero everyone looks up to… It's a great feeling. That's why I keep doing it." He leaned in closer in order to make sure Janae could hear him. "But there's more to being a hero than people shouting your name and being loved and adored and feeding that big ego. People do love you… AND they trust you to keep them safe. Being a hero isn't just something you are… It's something you earn. It's something you do not because of the rewards, but because you know it's right. And it's not a solo show. No matter how popular you are, you still need your friends and your team. Otherwise, you're just a wanna-be hot shot with no real goal.

"Janae, you could've been a hero," he continued, "You could've been there when we stopped Eggman Nega once and for all. Just because I was in charge doesn't mean I did it alone. You could've been part of the heroes. I hope maybe you finally learned something from all this…"

Janae was quiet, and didn't respond in any way.

Sonic turned away. "Well… hopefully you will."

Before he left the room, he stopped as he heard Janae call out to him. "Sonic…"

"Yeah?"

"Will…" Janae slightly turned her head towards him, "Will I ever get another chance to be a hero?"

Sonic smirked. "There's always a chance. You don't have to blow up robots left and right to be a hero. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"… Thanks."

"You're welcome," Sonic went to leave, but stopped one last time, "Oh by the way… About what you did to me…" He grinned, "No hard feelings."

* * *

**OYDAX**

* * *

Sonic was curious as to how things were above ground, so he headed outside.

Just as Tech reported, things were much calmer. Eggman Nega's robots still filled the streets, but at least they were doing good rather than attacking and capturing.

Occasionally, he'd find people hugging tightly while crying tears of joy. More happy reunions, he surmised.

He also noticed a few more Wisps happily flying around. He looked around a corner, and found Oydax corralling more freed Wisps out a building. Once they were gone, they were followed by random Badniks.

"What are these?" Sonic asked as he approached.

Oydax turned to you sadly. "These were more of Eggman Nega's experiments," he explained, "Wisp-Badniks… like myself. I was his most successful project. The only reason I have my free-will was from a freak-lightning hit. That was decades ago, however… Despite my abilities, I just wasn't enough to win this war."

Sonic flashed him a thumbs up. "Well, you pulled through eventually."

The Wisp-Badnik nodded. "All I can do now is help others like me…" He turned to the nearly lifeless Badniks, "But without Nega to give them orders, they're basically zombies now. They were built and programmed like the other robots. They were 'created' against their wills, in a sense."

"Can't we just bust them out of their shells?" Sonic asked.

Oydax shook his head. "These aren't the original formulated Badniks the original Dr. Eggman created," he explained, "These guys aren't just shoved into robot casing as a battery source. They're practically 'morphed' into robots. We destroy them, we kill them…"

Sonic lowered his head. "Dang… that blows…" he sighed, "What do we do?"

"I'll work hard to try and reverse the effects," Oydax replied.

"Including yourself?"

"Well… perhaps," he said, "But I'll be sure to be the last one saved, if saving us all is at all possible. But right now, I'll stay as I am." He swung around his mighty cricket bat, "I think I'll be of more use with my Badniks armor than without."

Sonic nodded. "Good luck."

* * *

**AMY**

* * *

Sonic came across Amy, sitting alone in the lounging area. She was shuffling a stack of cards and about to place them away when he approached her. "Hey Ames."

Amy glanced up in surprise, and then happily embraced him. "Sonic! I haven't had you to myself since all those victory parties!"

"Yeah, what a shame," he muttered. "Listen, I'm glad I caught up with you."

"You are?" Amy clasped her hands and gleamed brightly.

"I wanted to ask about Little Planet."

Amy frowned. "Oh…"

"I saw you had your cards there," he told her, "Were you by chance figuring out the fate of Little Planet?"

"I was, actually," Amy pulled out her stack of tarot cards again, "Presently, it's still in a state of disarray…" She looked up at Sonic hopefully, "But a brighter future is in the distance. It may all have to do with Dr. Nega being gone…" She turned away, a bit sullen. "But, if we go back and free it now, I'm afraid Little Planet will disappear again… and we may never get to go home…"

Sonic plopped himself next to her. "No worries, Ames," he assured her, "We'll get there sooner or later." He gave her his usual confident grin, "And besides, we'll be counting on you to keep us in the loop with Little Planet's whereabouts."

"You will?" Amy looked at him, a sparkle practically forming in her eye.

"Well, you're the one with a link to it with those Tarot cards," Sonic replied, "Though… I've never actually seen you read them before."

"You haven't?" Amy twisted around and placed her cards on the table, "Well, how about I give you a free reading? Right here, right now?"

_ **"Sure!"** _

Amy squealed in excitement, and shuffled her cards quickly. Then she places them on the table in one pile. "Cut the cards!"

"I call ace of clubs," Sonic joked as he cut the deck in half.

"Very funny," Amy snorted, then placed the decks together and placed them in the center. "Okay…" she breathed, "Here we go…"

She turned over the top card, and her face grew concerned. "Oh… Uh… Hm…"

Sonic slightly started to worry. "What is it..?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"What?" he twitched his nose, "Come on, let me guess. You don't like what you drew, so you don't wanna tell me."

"No," Amy said, and turned the card to him. It was completely blank. No pictures, no words. "It's nothing. Literally."

"What's that mean?"

"It means your future is uncertain…"

Sonic rubbed his chin and thought about it for a moment. "Hm…" he suddenly grinned, "Sounds about right."

"It does?"

"Yup," he crossed his arms, "I believe in writing my own destiny."

Sonic then got up from the couch and was about to head out when Amy called out to him. "Sonic?"

"Hm?"

She batted her eyelids at him. "Whatever your destiny is, will you consider including me in it?"

Sonic looked to be considering it, but then grinned and replied, "We'll see what the future holds!"

And with that, he took off before Amy had the chance to grab him.

* * *

**SHADE**

* * *

As Sonic wandered around, he did some exploring outside as well. More people from underground were coming out more to explore and make home, with the help of Nega's own robots that Tech conveniently hacked into and rewired their programming.

On top of one of the buildings, Sonic spotted Shade, sitting on the edge, staring upwards, lost in thought.

With his speed and skills, he jumped upwards, scaled the building, and approached her side. "Hi!"

Shade was not even startled. She continued to stare upward. "Hello," she replied, "What can I do for you, Sonic?"

The hedgehog plopped down next to her. "Just wanted to see what's up," he said, "We haven't really chatted much, you and me."

"What's there to chat about?"

"Well, there is everything that's been going on," Sonic suggested, "You being born from the Nocturne echidna clan, your entire tribe being away from our world for what was 4,000 years in our time, all of us being away for 200 years, defeating Eggman Nega, learning you're one of two echidnas left alive…"

"But enough about me," Shade cut in, looking over, "Let's talk about you."

Sonic fell silent. Shade smirked. "What? No longer chatty?"

"Well…" he turned away, "Let's just say if I told you about me, you wouldn't think I was such an upbeat guy."

Shade fixed her stare on him. "You have a certain type of past?" she asked, "One you're ashamed of?"

"Ashamed? No," Sonic responded, "Like talking about? Also no." He lifted his head, "Tails is the closest friend I have, and even he doesn't know much about my history."

"So I doubt you're going to give me any details," Shade said.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"I will respect your privacy," Shade looked back out into nothingness.

Sonic followed her gaze. "So what exactly is so fascinating about that broken window across the street?"

Shade let loose a small chuckle. "I'm looking at it… but that's not what I'm seeing."

"What do you see, then?"

"I don't know…" Shade closed her eyes and lowered her head, "That's just it… I don't know what's in store for me."

"What do you mean?"

"You say I've been gone for four thousand years… but it feels like everything is happening all at once. Escaping the Twilight Cage, betraying Lord Ix after so many years of loyalty, returning to Earth, all these new threats upon us…" She lifted her head, "I can't help but feel none of this would happen if the Nocturne hadn't invaded to begin with."

"It's not like this is solely your fault," said Sonic, "You and all your tribe members were following Ix's orders, and he turned out to be a total creep. At least now you're working to make everything right."

"It's the least I could do," said Shade.

Sonic smiled. "You've done more than your share."

Shade gave him a small smile. "Thank you… Though I can recall a time you thought differently."

"Well, I got to know you better," he replied, "You're a great addition to the team, and my circle of friends."

Shade looked downward, still smiling. "Friends… I like the idea of having those."

"You never had friends?"

"I had colleagues. It's not really the same, I suppose."

"Well then, you're in for the treat," Sonic grinned, "You're going to love it on Earth." He stretched your arms, "Speaking of which, what do you plan to do once we get back?"

Shade dipped her eyes downward. "I really don't know for sure," she responded, "I guess I'll just stay with Knuckles."

Sonic smirked just a bit. "You like him?"

Shade's eyes widened, and she grewsa slight blush. It looked really cute on her, actually. "Well… That is… I mean… I guess it's to be expected… He is the only other echidna, after all."

"Maybe things were different back then," Sonic said, "But people these days do date outside their species."

"Well, it's much more than that," Shade said, "I was the strongest of Ix's army. That's why he named me Procurator of the Marauders. Sure, I've had my share of admirers… but I always thought so low of them. They were nothing more than boot-licking yes-men. I simply had no interest in a man like that.

"But Knuckles is different. I'm stronger than him, yes, but he doesn't suck up. He doesn't let his emotions drive him. He's brave, and he remains loyal to his friends, while providing the benefit of a doubt. He stood by my side, despite being of Nocturne lineage and having been a part of the problem. Looking back, I can't really see why our tribes are considered enemies. We're very much alike." Shade's smile grew, "Of all the men I've encountered, he really stands out."

_ **Back Her Up** _

Sonic nodded your head. "Good choice there, Shade," he told her, "Knuckles has his, well, 'flaws'… But all in all, he's a good friend and a reliable ally."

Shade looked over and smiled. "I guess you would know that better than anybody. Though I do wonder why you all are so hard on him."

Sonic looked downward, feeling maybe just a tad guilty. "We really don't mean him any harm," he replied, "He's been living by himself since childhood. He's never really interacted with so many others before, so that's why he's easily gullible… and in a way, easy to tease."

"Why would you tease for him for that?" Shade snapped.

"It's nothing horrible," Sonic said, "It's just out of love. I tease all my friends. He just hasn't quite learned to roll with the punches."

"You keep up that level of teasing, you're going to have to learn to roll with _his_ punches."

Sonic chuckled at that. "I'll keep that in mind. But seriously, it's nice that he'll have someone to stand in his corner. You two really do go well together." Sonic gave a little snort, "Maybe you two could also 'save your species'."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Are echidnas really nearly extinct?"

Sonic gave a wink. "Maybe you oughta talk to him about it."

* * *

**KNUCKLES & SHADOW**

* * *

_"You're an idiot, thinking you know all about the power of Chaos!"_

_"Back off, Shadow! I'm doing the best I can!"_

_"Let me use Chaos Control."_

_"How? The emeralds are dead."_

_"You're not doing much better with the Master Emerald. No wonder Rouge is always trying to steal it from you. It's useless in your possession!"_

_"Say that again, hedgehog! I dare you!"_

Sonic couldn't help but overhear the loud argument from clear across quarters. He rushed over before anything gets blown up or destroyed.

The Master Emerald was being guarded in one of the empty bunkers, so he figured that was where the argument was being held. Sure enough, there was Knuckles, standing across from Shadow, both in front of the Master Emerald, propped against the wall. Seven gray-colored emeralds were placed around the bottom.

"Okay, time out!" Sonic jumped in between the two before anyone was killed, "What's going on here?"

"Knuckles thinks he can restore the Chaos Emeralds' powers with the Master Emerald," Shadow replied.

Sonic nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea."

"Except everything he's tried hasn't worked," the black hedgehog grunted, glaring at the echidna, "You call yourself the guardian and one with the Master Emerald. What a laugh."

"It'd be a lot easier if you left!" Knuckles spat, "I can't concentrate with you hovering over my shoulder and telling me how much I suck."

"You're right," Shadow hissed, "You're perfectly capable of sucking without me here."

"That's it!" Knuckles lunged at Shadow, but Sonic managed to grab him around the waist and pulled him back as much as he could.

"Will you two calm down?" he shouted, "Knuckles, what's wrong with the Master Emerald? I always thought you of all people know how to activate its powers."

"If I just had a moment to concentrate," Knuckles grumbled through grit teeth, "But it's hard when somebody keeps interrupting me."

"All I'm doing is sitting here, watching you fail," Shadow retorted, "Why don't you let a true master of chaos power try?"

"Nobody uses the Master Emerald's power without my permission," Knuckles shouted, "Who knows what YOU'LL do with it?!"

"A lot more than you are right now."

"Damn it, Shadow, I'm gonna-!"

"Come on, Knuckles," Sonic quickly grabbed his red friend's arm and pulled him out of the bunker, "You need to cool off. Come take a walk with me."

"And leave Shadow alone with the emerald?" Knuckles spat, "Where he can hand it off to his partner in crime?"

"Wrong Team Dark member," Sonic grunted, "Now come on! It'll be fine."

"And if it isn't, Sonic?"

"Then I give you permission to punch me in the face later. Let's go."

Reluctantly, Knuckles followed him down the hall, where they both walked together in an awkward and angry silence. After a while, and a few deep breaths, he finally started cooling down, and the both of them made their way to the Mess Hall. Sonic ordered a few drinks and then found an empty table and sat together.

"So… Knuckles-"

"I don't know what's wrong with me, Sonic!" Knuckles didn't wait for Sonic to express his concern and spilled it right away, "I've always been able to communicate with the Master Emerald. Why can't I suddenly use its power when I need to?"

"Uh…." Sonic clearly had no answer, and could only drum his fingers on the table in thought.

"Yeah, some help you are," Knuckles grunted, and took an angry sip from his water.

"Sorry," Sonic said, "You're the expert on the Master Emerald. What can I tell you?"

Knuckles sighed and glanced to the side. "I dunno… make a suggestion."

Sonic rubbed his chin in thought, and a silly idea entered your mind. "Maybe the emerald's jealous."

The echidna glanced over at him. "What?"

Sonic grinned. "Think about it!" he chimed, "You let it get manhandled by the wrong men! Eggman, Ix, Nega… And now you've got two girls on the side. Maybe it wants to be the only girl in your life."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "That is by far the stupidest thing you've ever said to me."

Sonic shrugged. "It makes sense. You're practically in love with the thing."

"I'm the guardian!" Knuckles shouted, "I'm supposed to protect it from all harm! So yeah, forgive me if I get crazy when people want to take it for their own selfish use!" He crossed his arms and turned away. "… and for when people say I'm a lousy guardian…"

Sonic twitched his nose. "Is that what this is all about?"

Knuckles lowered his head. "I know I'm not perfect… Far from it. It doesn't help when everyone around me, those I'm supposed to consider my friends, joke about just how incompetent I am."

"Oh Knux, we're not trying to be mean," said Sonic, "You know me. I tease all my friends. We joke because we love you."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "All of you love me..?"

"Well…" Sonic shrugged, "Yeah."

"Even Rouge?"

Sonic chuckled at this. "Like that isn't obvious!"

Knuckles snorted in response. "Oh yeah. She's really in love with me."

"I think she is," said Sonic, "Why else would she constantly visit you on Angel Island?"

"To steal the Master Emerald…"

"I recall her only doing that once…"

"Of course. Because I know now to watch out for her!"

Sonic sighed. "Knuckles… do you realize she was trying to hug you back at the first celebration?"

He looks over at him curiously. "Really..?"

The hedgehog nodded. "Yeah. But you stepped over to celebrate with Shade instead."

Knuckles tightened his stare at him. "And that's a bad thing?"

"Hmm…" Sonic looked down at the table. "I guess not necessarily, if you like Shade and all. But I sort of feel sorry for Rouge a bit."

Knuckles scoffed. "Don't," he responded, "She doesn't deserve an ounce of pity."

"Sheesh, you really don't like her, huh?"

Knuckles darted his eyes the other way, and gave a small sigh. "Well… she's got some things about her I admire. She's got a good brain, she's got impressive agility and fighting skills, and I really love her-" He quickly stopped himself from finishing.

Sonic grinned. "Her assets?"

Knuckles gave him a dirty look in response, but then looked down and sighed. "There are some things about her I do like. But she really makes it hard to keep liking her… Sometimes I think why even bother? Especially when there's someone who does like and respect me regardless of how I am?"

"I take it you're leaning more towards Shade, huh?"

Knuckles twitched his nose and turned away from you. "Why don't you just mind your own business, Sonic?"

Sonic shrugged. "You're right," he replied, "It isn't my business. Come on, better go check on Shadow." As he got up from the table and headed out, Knuckles was quickly on his heels.

"Uh… Sonic?"

Sonic looked over. "Yea?"

The echidna scratched the back of his head. "If… well… if you had to choose… Would you prefer Rouge or Shade?"

_ **"Not My Concern."** _

Sonic raised up his hands. "Knux, I'm sorry, but… I really can't say. This is your dilemma. It's entirely up to you to decide."

Knuckles twitched his nose. "Right…" He turned away, "Thanks for the advice… or lack thereof."

Sonic shrugged in response, and the two of them continued on back down to the empty bunker.

_ **Con'td** _

The two returned to the empty bunker, where Shadow still stood by the Master Emerald. He turned, noticing their arrival. "Feeling better?"

"Just needed a drink," Knuckles dryly answered.

"Hmph," Shadow turned back, "Sounds like something I should do later…"

"So, any luck, Mr. Chaos Expert?" Knuckles asked as he approached the Master Emerald.

Shadow nodded. "I focused on the energy inside the emerald, and I managed to corral it into a single entity."

Knuckles whipped his head angrily to Shadow. "You were messing with the emerald?!"

"Relax," Shadow groaned, "I didn't break anything. It's still in one piece. I figured a massive source could help you harness the power and you can use it to restore the Chaos Emeralds."

Knuckles thought about it, then slowly nodded. "I guess it's worth a shot… Thanks…"

"You're welcome," Shadow glared at Knuckles, "Now get your head out of the clouds and do this thing."

Knuckles glared back as Sonic laughed a bit. "Guess you two just needed to work together," he grinned and took his leave. "I'll let you do your thing."

* * *

**TAKE A LONG EARNED NAP**

Sonic had been walking around all day, and it was starting to take its toll on him. Plus, given all the recent events and everything else going on around the city, he decided he needed to rest before everyone would made their next move. So he retreated to his bunker and took a long, well-earned nap.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**ALTERNATIVE SCENES**

* * *

**AMY**

** _ "No Thanks." _ **

Amy crossed her arms and twitched her nose. "Why not?" she muttered, "What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing!" Sonic quickly replied, "I just don't believe in that fortune telling stuff."

"Oh really?" she snapped, "You just said a second ago that you're counting on me to keep tabs on Little Planet!" She glared at Sonic sharply, "Why say it if you didn't mean it?"

Sonic blinked, suddenly remembering his words, and he tried to back track. "Well, uh I mean, I don't believe in fortune telling for myself!" he spat, "But for Little Planet, sure! Why not?"

Amy rolled her eyes at him. "I don't get you, Sonic," she grumbled, "One minute you're really sweet, the other you can be so heartless. Sometimes I wonder how you really feel about me."

Sonic snickered a little. "You could always consult the cards."

Amy looked as if she was seriously considering it, but then shook her head 'no'. "I don't think I really want to find out…"

* * *

**SHADE**

** _Tell Her The "Truth" About Knuckles_ **

"Careful there, Shade," Sonic snarked, "Knuckles isn't anything like the way you romanticize. Sure he's strong and brave, but he lacks a lot of brain. He's been so sheltered, he even trusted Eggman the first time he met him. And he's been tricked by him more than once afterwards…"

Sonic casually placed his hands behind his head. "Come to think of it, he was pretty quick to trust you, even after you did a heel-face turn on Ix. He's way too gullible. Not to mention easy to pick on. You sure he really stands out?"

He opened one eye to glance at her, and saw she was looking rather peeved at him. "What's wrong? Did I shatter the rose-colored glasses?"

"You call yourself his friend?" she spat, "I've known him much shorter than you have, and even I can look past his shortcomings. You're too quick to pass him off as a dumb muscle, yet you've already forgotten how much he's helped you since Ix first came back to your world. Even I've noticed all this on your assault back on Angel Island."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Wow… You're as gullible as Knuckles. In that case, you two really are made for each other!"

As fast as he was, he couldn't duck the punch she had landed on the side of his head, and he went falling down the building…

Fortunately, he had fallen down from higher distances, and the landing didn't hurt him too badly. Panicked onlookers rushed to his side, but he was able to jump back to his feet with ease, brushed himself off, and decided that he was better off being elsewhere at the moment…

* * *

**KNUCKLES**

** _ Shade _ **

Sonic scratched his chin in thought. "Hmm…" he wondered out loud, "If I were you… I would definitely go with Shade."

"Now you say Shade?" Knuckles almost chuckled, "I thought you were Team Rouge for a moment there."

"Well, I didn't say you needed to be with her," Sonic responded, "Just that she does like you. But hey, if you prefer Shade, then she'll have to deal. The heart wants what the heart wants."

Knuckles seemed appreciative of your answer. "Yeah. Makes sense."

Sonic took note of his reaction. "Yup," he nodded, "Definitely Shade. I mean, I've seen you two together in action. That thing you so affectionately call 'Echidna Rush', the way she just adores you and protect you from all the mean bullies…"

Knuckles' cheeks turned pink. He turned away to hide them but Sonic already saw it. He decided to see just how much redder he could go. "Also, I think you two oughta save your species."

At that, the echidna nearly tripped over his feet. He turned to Sonic angrily, but it was worth it to see the even deeper shade of pink his cheeks had gotten. "Really, Sonic?! You had to go there?!"

Sonic gave a little laugh. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Sonic!"

Sonic chuckled some more, but remained quiet on the subject.

** _ Rouge _ **

Sonic scratched under his chin in thought. "Hmm…" he wondered out loud, "If it were up to me…" He grinned like a dope, "I'd definitely go with Rouge."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Figures," he mumbled, "Why's that?"

"You mean besides her assets?" Sonic grinned, and quickly evaded a small punch from Knuckles. "Okay, hear me out… You might not realize this, but Rouge is a lot like you."

"What…?"

"Yeah! I mean, there's more to you two than you both let on. On the outside, people think of you as a dumb muscle, and don't see more what lies beyond. Same goes with her. Sure she looks like a sexy tease, but deep down, she's a good person who does care about others, and you can rely on her when you really need to."

Knuckles looked down and gave a small sigh. "Yeah… there's no doubting that. But it's hard to believe she actually likes me."

Sonic shrugged. "Well, Rouge isn't going to just outright confess her feelings. She's got her own, well, unique way of showing it. Y'know, the whole 'teasing' and flirting." You glance upwards in thought, "Come to think of it, she does that to you the most."

Knuckles crossed his arms and gave a low sigh. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't kinda like her back. I just wish she'd treat me a little better."

** _"Maybe you should also treat her nicely."_ **

Knuckles cocked an eyebrow at Sonic. "Treat her nicely? After all she does to me?"

"You know that saying, 'Kill them with kindness,'" Sonic replied, "You treat her well, eventually she'll return the gesture."

"And if she doesn't."

"Well, if it doesn't, you've still got Shade to choose from."

Knuckles turned away. "When we're out on the battlefield, Sonic, you know I trust you with my life…" He glared back up at him, "But when it comes to matters of the heart, I trust you about as far as I can throw you."

Sonic grinned. "You must really trust me then!"

The echidna grimaced. "You know what I mean!" He huffed and turned away again. Sonic looked forward and the twp continued on, side by side.

"… However…"

Sonic glanced over at his friend, who was also looking at him a bit.

"… I'll keep that in mind."

Sonic smiled, nodded, and continued on back to the bunker.

** _"She's not going to change. Let it go."_ **

Knuckles sighed heavily and dropped his head. "You're probably right, Sonic," he said, "The whole idea of Rouge and I being in a relationship isn't very likely. At least Shade respects me."

"And you respect her?" Sonic questioned.

"Of course I do!" Knuckles replied "Gotta respect a woman who can knock me flat on my back."

Sonic gave Knuckles an odd look. He noticed this, and twitched his nose. "In a fair fight," he elaborated, "Sure, both Rouge and Shade are strong girls, smart, and think quickly on their feet. But Shade's loyalty and honesty is what really draws me to her. Maybe we were born from different clans…" He gave a small smile, "But I think I feel a real connection with her more than anyone else."

Sonic smiled back. It felt nice to see his rather hot-headed friend in such high spirits. He figured this might help him clear his mind and he could finally connect back with the Master Emerald.

… And yet, he also couldn't help yourself. "Not to mention you gotta save the species."

At that, the echidna nearly tripped over his feet. He turns to Sonic angrily, but it was worth it to see the even deeper shade of pink his cheeks had gotten. "Really, Sonic?! You had to go there?!"

Sonic gave a little laugh. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Sonic!"

Sonic chuckled some more, but remain quiet on the subject.


	10. The Search for Eggman Nega

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had someone ask where "the heck Big the Cat is?!" As I explained at the very beginning, I wrote out Big as if he were never part of the adventure, as he contributed very little to the original story (and I'm really not a big fan of the guy. Sorry...) You could say he fell behind at Nocturne and the ship left without him... and the crew has YET to realize he's gone.
> 
> Cream the Rabbit was written out too. Unlike Big, I DO like the character, but she was seemed too extra, and more likely to be too scared to join an adventure, so Sonic left her behind (as that IS an option in the original game) . Amy IS going to bring up that point later in the story, however.

"Sonic, wake up!"

The hedgehog opened his eyes to find Tails right in front of him, shaking his your shoulders in an effort to wake him. "_Eugh…__"_ he moaned, trying to push him away, "Cut it out… I'm awake… How long was I asleep for?"

"Just a few hours," Tails replied as he took a step back, "Sorry to disturb your nap, but Silver's calling a new meeting, and he wants us all there."

Sonic tiredly yawned, stretched, and suddenly just like that, he was up and at 'em. "Okay then," he grinned, "Let's go!"

* * *

The duo make their way through Rebellion HQ and to the Meeting Room, where Silver, Tech, and Oydax, along with a few other Rebellion members were waiting, as well as Sonic's whole team. The Rebellion members applauded wildly at Sonic's appearance.

The hedgehog gave a half-hearted wave. "Thank you, thank you…" he mumbled, then looked over at Silver standing at the head of the table. "Good to see you up there again, buddy."

Silver smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He motioned for him and Tails to take a seat. The two sat down with their team.

"Well, everyone, I never thought this day would happen," Silver announced aloud, "Eggman Nega is gone, and Metropolis is ours for the taking, as well as the rest of the planet. According to Tech, Rebellion hideouts around the world are reporting drawbacks from Nega's supporters and sub-bosses, and stationed Badniks working to help them instead of hurting them."

The room applauded with approval.

"However…"

It suddenly died down.

"According to reports from the last battle, Eggman Nega wasn't necessarily killed in action. He disappeared through what's known as 'Chaos Control.'" The silver-furred hedgehog turned to the obsidian-colored one, "Shadow, would you be so kind as to explain what that is again?"

Shadow huffed, but stood up. "Chaos Control is a technique that allows a person to warp through time and space," he explained, "In order to perform it, you need Chaos energy, such as that from the emeralds. You can go as far as you like with as many people as you can, depending on how much energy is available. With Nega's case, he used his own man-made Chaos Emeralds to perform it. However, when I attacked with my own Chaos Powers, there's a chance I might've disrupted his destined location."

"Meaning Nega was warped to who-knows-where," Silver finished, "This could either be good or bad."

"How so?" a teal-colored female peacock asked, "If Nega's gone, isn't that good?"

"For us, maybe," Silver replied, "But for how long? We don't know what might've happened to his fake emeralds after Nega was teleported away. But wherever he is, what's to stop him from trying to come back?"

"Don't you think he would've come back by now?" asked Tech.

"He could come back in 500 years," said Silver, "Or he could come back tomorrow. Or he could be forever stuck in a new dimension… causing that world havoc like he did to us."

"So… how is that our problem?" a red and white dog barked.

"It's our problem because he's the one we're warring against," Silver replied sternly, "He came from our world, and we sent him away. It would be wrong of us to just pass him off to someone else and let them deal with him. Besides, we don't want to get TOO cozy in our new, Eggman-free world. If we let our guard down just assuming he's gone forever, what will happen if he were to find a way to return? Maybe as a bigger threat?"

"What are you suggesting then?" Oydax asked.

"We waged a war against the Eggman Empire two-hundred years ago," said Silver, "Our goal wasn't JUST to free our world, but to make sure Eggman or any more of his successors wouldn't bother us ever again. If Eggman Nega truly is gone, I want to make sure of it!"

"And how do you propose to do that?" asked Shadow.

Silver looked over with a smirk. "You're the one that knows Chaos Control, right?"

Shadow lowered his head in thought. "I see," he mumbled, "So you want me to do the work for you, is that it?"

"Not at all," Silver responded, "If you can just set me towards the right direction where Nega would've gone, I can take care of the rest."

"But, you're forgetting something, sweetie," Rouge spoke up, "Eggman Nega zapped up all the Chaos Emeralds' powers. How can we use them again?"

Silver nodded towards Knuckles. "Care to answer?"

Knuckles grinned. "You can thank the Master Emerald for that," he replied, "Well, Shadow helped too, I suppose..."

Shadow crossed his arms and huffed once more.

"We tapped in enough chaos energy to restore the Chaos Emeralds to their former glory," Knuckles finished.

"Ah…" Rouge smiled sweetly, "I guess you did something right with that emerald for a change."

Knuckles growled, narrowing his eyes at the bat… but surprisingly, suddenly let it go and turned away from her. Needless to say, even Rouge was taken back by his reaction.

"So that's that," Silver said, "All I need is for you to help me follow Eggman Nega. Then you guys can go to Little Planet and head home to your rightful timeline."

"But what about you, Silver?" Amy asked, "You're not going to face Eggman Nega alone, are you?"

"Assuming you're even able to find him at all," Tails added.

"He won't have to," said Tech as he and Oydax stood up, "We're going with him. Right Silver?"

The silver-furred hedgehog held up his hand. "Sorry," he replied, "But you two are the best members the Resistance has to offer. Oydax, you're the strong man. You can keep everything in line. And Tech, you're needed to keep everything online, and make sure every robot and Badnik stays on our side."

"But you can't do this alone!" the peacock cried and looked over to Sonic, "Sonic, aren't you going to help him?"

Silver looked over as well. "Sonic, you and your friends have done more than enough to help us," he tells him, "You don't have to come along if you don't want to."

The rest of the team looked to the blue hedgehog too. "Sonic," Tails said, "Do you really want to leave Silver to do this by himself?"

"No way, Tails," Sonic replied and stood from your seat, "Silver, you're nuts if you think we're gonna leave you behind after all we've been through. Like it or not, we're a part of this war too, and we're on your side!"

"Are… are you sure?" Silver asked.

Sonic crossed his arms with confidence. "When am I never?"

Silver smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, Sonic," he said, "Now that I think about it, I think I am going to need all the help I can get. After all, since you came, this war completely did a 180 in our favor. Maybe you should come with me."

"Well, you got us!" Sonic flashed a thumbs up, then looked to his team, "Right guys?"

Knuckles clenched his fist and grinned. "You got it."

Amy nodded enthusiastically, "Of course!"

"I'm more than happy to help," Shade spoke up.

Rouge stretched her arms. "I've got nothing better to do."

"May as well," Shadow huffed, "You'd get nowhere without me."

"To-Destroy-Eggman-And-All-Associated-Is-My-Top-Priority," Omega droned, "I-Shall-Join-You-In-Your-Quest."

Tails smiled. "Looks like it's decided."

Silver nodded. "Thanks everybody."

* * *

After taking a while to gather supplies and belongings, Sonic's team met up in the center of Metropolis, near Nega's original headquarters. Shadow figured he could probably trace the trail of energy that sent Nega away from there. Plus they figured they need all the space they could get as a crowd of Resistance Members, and their families and friends, came by to wish them well.

The team stood by the Master Emerald, being stood upright. Knuckles presented the Chaos Emeralds, newly restored, and placed them in front of the Master Emerald. Shadow was about to use his famous technique, but Silver held him up as a few Resistance Members stepped up to say their farewells.

"It's been such an honor to meet you all, and fight alongside you," Tech commends, shaking Sonic's hand.

"Same here, partner," Sonic grinned, "Good luck in this Brave New World."

Tech nodded his thanks, and moved on to say his goodbyes to everyone else.

Oydax approached next, giving Sonic a salute. "Godspeed, Sonic the Hedgehog! You're a true hero in history, and so on."

Sonic saluted back. "Keep everyone safe here," he said.

"I will. Oh, and one last thing…" Oydax stepped to the side, revealing a familiar female rabbit standing behind him.

"Janae..?"

Janae glanced to the side in shame. "Hi…"

"What are you doing here?" Sonic asked.

"Silver said I could come out of solitary confinement, IF I had in fact learned my lesson… Though I've still got a ton of punishment coming my way," Janae looked up at the hedgehog, "Look at this. We won the war, and you're all STILL going after Eggman Nega. If I wasn't grounded here, I would've been glad to come along."

"So you can be the hero?" Sonic snarked.

"So I can fight _with_ the heroes," she replied, "All you've done… that's what being a real hero is. That's what I'm going to strive for. I can see now… it's not about having a status. It's a real job, something you earn, not have handed to you. I've seen all you've done first hand, and now I understand."

Sonic smiled. "Cream would be proud."

Janae shook her head. "No… not yet, anyway. I've got to prove myself, especially after that crazy stunt I pulled." She nervously held out her hand, "Sonic… I'm sorry about what I did."

Sonic looked at her hand for a moment… then smiled at her as he took a hold of it. "No worries."

Janae smiled back. "Thanks. Good luck out there. Keep Silver safe for us, okay?"

"We will," he replied, "Though Silver's a tough guy. I'm sure he'll be keeping us safe too."

"Are we ready yet?" Shadow barked.

Sonic groaned. Shadow could be just as impatient as him… "Okay, okay," he muttered, "We're coming."

"Be careful, son," Serena kissed Silver's forehead, "Remember, come back safe to me!"

"I will, Mother," Silver squeezed her hands reassuringly, "I love you."

"I love you too, son."

"Let's go!" Shadow nearly shouted.

Everybody gathered around the emeralds, with Shadow taking center. He clenched his fists, summoning the powers. _"__Chaos Control!"_

A bright flashing light surrounded the group, and they felt themselves being teleported from the world they were familiar with to a completely new location…

* * *

Once the blinding light finally died down, Sonic and the others looked around their surroundings. They were all on what looked like a long, twisted, golden pathway, being supported in complete mid-air. The horizon around them was like the outers of a universe. Stars littered the sky, along with pulsing portals.

"What is this place?" Amy wondered out loud.

Shadow observed all around. "This is as far as the chaos energy Nega left behind could bring us," he replied, "We're on a dimensional pathway… a purgatory of some sort between different worlds."

"It looks like what we go through when we look for a Chaos Emerald," Tails noted.

"What do you think links different worlds through time and space?" Shadow replied.

Knuckles crossed his arms. "So I guess we have to figure out ourselves where Nega could've gone to."

Sonic looked ahead. The long, golden pathway they were all standing on stretched as far as the eye could see. "Well, the only way to go for now is straight," he said, "Still, let's all stick together. We can't afford to get lost in a place like this."

Everybody was in agreement, and they all headed off down the long golden road.

It was a long travel. Sonic was bored within 10 minutes and was tempted to run ahead, but in such a strange dimension, he would have rather stick to his own advice and not get separated from his team.

A few of the other heroes made small talk among each other. Sonic could hear Knuckles and Shade in quiet conversation, but he couldn't make out what they're saying exactly. He did, however, notice Rouge was trying her best to hide her jealousy, but he could tell she was agitated by the two of them simply conversing.

Omega and Shadow trudged on, staring ahead without a word. Silver was nearby, and once in a while asked Shadow some questions about his chaos powers. "How did you get them?" "How do they work?" "Do you always need an emerald?" "Is the strength of your powers determined by how many emeralds you use?" Shadow's answers were quick and simple. Eventually, Silver backed off, finally getting the hint Shadow wasn't much for friendly chat.

Tails and Amy were engaging with each other, talking about their friends from their timeline. They worried about how Cream dealt with the new war against the rising Eggman Empire, but couldn't help but ponder over who she could've possibly gotten together and had kids with. Soon, however, they'll be going back home to all their friends, and this war would never have to happen to begin with.

Sonic looked on ahead. After much walking and trudging along, the group spotted something in the distance… There was a fork in the road. Once they all approached, they saw there were three different paths to take.

The left road lead to a brown-colored portal. The edges swirled around like a gust of wind.

The middle road lead to a red-colored portal, which pulsated and cackled like flames.

The right road lead to a blue-colored portal, which rippled like water.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…" Knuckles muttered, "Feh… like that's going to help."

Rouge approached Sonic's side and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, we could always check out each dimension…"

"I don't like that idea," said Silver, "We can't waste any time while Nega could be anywhere. We have to pick what world Nega would most likely be in."

"Not to mention we don't know what exactly is in those worlds," Shade added, "We have to play it safe too. We could be walking into an unknown danger."

"I simply just don't want to waste time," Shadow grunted.

Tails looked up at you. "What do you suggest, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog studied the roads and the portals that they're lead to… He stared at all the portals, carefully weighing his choices…

But there wasn't much to weigh, given that they knew nothing about what world lied ahead of each.

But as he looked on the red portal, with its edges lighting up and blazing on like a wildfire, he couldn't help but feel a familiar presence about it…

"That one," he pointed ahead to it, "In the middle. That's the one we go through."

"Are you sure?" Silver asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yup. I'm feeling it."

"Oh great," Shadow grunted, "We're going on by your gut feelings. God save us."

"Hey if you want to take your chances with the other portals, be my guest," Sonic snidely remarked, "Anyone else with me?"

The rest of the team nodded their approval. Shadow gave a loud sigh. "Fine… Very well. But you'll have hell to pay if this is the wrong one, blue hedgehog."

The team went towards the middle portal. As they approached, the flames of the edge reached out to grab them, and it felt as if they were all being pulled into the fiery world.

Once the flames died down, however, they all found themselves in what looks like your their world!

Only… a little off.

"Where are we?" Rouge questioned.

Sonic looked around. They were all surrounded by tall grass and dirt paths. The smell of the ocean filled the air, so there was no doubt they were near a beach of some sort. While he didn't recognize this part of the world, it still seems strangely familiar to Sonic.

"Let's have a look around," he suggested and took the lead, "Maybe we'll find a place or someone who could help us out."

They all headed down the dirt path through the quaint and quiet area. So far, nothing popped out that anyone recognized, but they all continued to trudge on.

_"Heeelllp!"_

Sonic froze at the sound of a distressed cry, as everyone nearly knocked into him from behind. "What is it, Sonic?!" Knuckles asked impatiently.

"Did you hear that?" Sonic held out his ear for a better listen. There wasn't any more cries for help, but he did hear a sort of commotion echoing about.

Rouge, her bat ears being more sensitive, picked up on the noise. "I hear it too," she said, "Kinda far off, but I can't tell what way it's coming from. Omega, can you give us a hand?"

"Affirmative," Omega leaped into the air, and his head spun around his shoulders. Sonic assumed he was using some sort of radar system inside himself. He locked on towards his right. "Source-Of-Sound-Located. East-Southeast, Approximately-Eight-Hundred-Sixty-Three-Yards."

"We better check it out!" Sonic shouted and ran on ahead. Everybody did their best to keep up, but they all basically had an idea where the source of trouble was, given Omega's directions. Sonic skidded to a halt at the edge of a small hill. Below was a village, set very close to the ocean. Houses were on fire, people screamed as they ran in terror, and pirates were mucking up the place.

Sonic clenched his fist at the sight of the terrorism.

"Easy, Sonic," Shadow coolly said, "There's no sign of Eggman Nega. This is just a random attack on some bumpkin village."

"Nega or not, we can't leave these people at the mercy of those pirates!" Silver shouted.

Sonic gave an enthusiastic nod. "You're right, Silver," he announced, "What kind of heroes are we if we don't help these people in need?"

"Procrastinating heroes," Shadow grunted.

Sonic ignored him and rushed forward. "Let's go!" he shouted. Everyone followed, even the reluctant Shadow.

Nobody asked questions. Nobody observed. They just started throwing punches and knocking over anyone with an eye-patch, peg-leg, or do-rag, especially if they had a distressed victim in hand. Eventually, the pillaging and robbing stopped, and the pirates instead focus on the group of heroes.

After punching a pirate down, Sonic noticed the ground he was standing on grew darker. He spun around, and saw he was in the shadow of a large, muscular pirate, towering quite tall over him.

***WHAM!***

Fortunately, Knuckles had his back as he landed a Maximum Heat left hook into the side of the pirate's head, literally knocking it off his shoulders, and it bounced across the beach.

"Sick!" Sonic shouted, "Knux, I think you overdid it!"

"No wait!" Knuckles shouted, "That's no real pirate!" He pointed at the sparks and wires sticking from the open shoulders of the now defunct pirate, "These are robots!"

"Robots?" Tails glanced over, "Then that must mean Eggman Nega IS behind all this!"

"Good…!" Shade grinned, in mid-struggle with a larger pirate that towered over her, "Then that means I don't have to hold back anymore." Her wrist gauntlets glowed brightly, and she ripped the arms off the robot, then proceeded to hurl it like a torpedo to another pirate-bot.

Shadow got into the swing of things as well, bowling over a row of pirates himself. Knowing they weren't really hurting actual living beings, everybody else had no qualms giving it all they had to take down these pirates.

_"Uwaaahhhh!"_

Sonic froze. _'That voice… That irritating but very familiar voice!'_ "Marine?"

He turned his head and saw in the distance a strange looking green robot rushing towards the ocean, carrying an orange figure under his arm. Sonic clenched his fist. "Johnny!"

The green robot, whom he recognized as "Johnny", whipped his head around at Sonic. "You again?" he snarled, "Of all the time for you to be back here in this world!"

_'This world..?'_ Given that statement, plus seeing Marine and Johnny here together, Sonic quickly realized that this was Blaze's dimension.

But he didn't have time to focus on that, as it was clear as day Johnny was trying to kidnap Marine. Why? He didn't know. But he did know he have to stop him regardless.

Johnny was as quick as ever as he leaped into the ocean, Marine in hand, and took off on a jet ski that was concealed underwater. Sonic missed him by an inch as he rushed at him, but he was already taken off far into the sea.

Sonic didn't stop, however. He continued running, giving it all he had, until he have enough momentum to literally run on the surface of the water itself.

_'… What the heck am I doing?!'_ he cried in his mind,_ 'I can't swim! And the further out I go, the deeper the ocean floor's gonna get!'_

The crazy waves nearly knocking him off balance weren't helping either.

But he was out here, and he was Marine's only hope for a rescue. He concentrated as hard as you could and continued giving chase after Johnny. Despite the rocky running ground, he was able to catch up. So far, Johnny didn't notice him. He could easily jump up and-

"OY!" Marine suddenly shouted as she spotted Sonic, "Nice moving on that there water, mate!"

_'Dammit, Marine!'_

Johnny glared over his shoulder and snarled. "Hey, that's no fair!" he sneered, "You're not on a water bike. You call that an even match?"

"I don't have time for a race!" Sonic shouted, "You've got my friend, and I want her back!"

Johnny gave a devilish smirk, "If you want her, come and get her!" He accelerated his bike and zoomed off.

The idea of going further down sea made Sonic nervous, but he had to keep running. Slowing down now meant dropping under water, and sinking…

He poured on more speed and gave it all he had, rushing quickly towards Johnny. He was able to catch up pretty close in no time, but he felt himself running out of breath. He may be super speedy, but he knew he couldn't do this forever…

_'This was a bad idea…'_ Sonic thought to himself,_ 'But there's no turning back now. It's do or die! Now how do we not die...?'_

Sonic decided he couldn't risk a sneak attack; Johnny was keeping an eye on him, and he could notice him coming up from behind.

Marine on the other hand wasn't doing anything but hanging onto Johnny to keep from falling into the ocean… Maybe (and hopefully) she could help him out.

"Hey Marine!" Sonic shouted over, "How about lending me a hand! Can ya distract Johnny for me?"

"Me? Distract 'im?!" Marine shouted back, "Wow! Ain't no one's ever asked me ta' help 'em before! I was always tired of feelin' like a bludger! A'right then, lemme just whip a lil' somethin' up..!"

"Marine, just DO SOMETHING!" Sonic screamed.

"All right, all right, hold yer horses, mate! I'm doin' the best I can 'ere!"

"Are you two serious?" Johnny shouted, looking back at Sonic, "I'm right in front of you! You're just going to talk back and forth about how to defeat me when I'm in the middle of you both? Jeez, you guys are dumber than I could ever imagine!"

As Johnny complained, Sonic notice in front of him a giant wave forming… a tidal wave. He cringed wildly at the sight. Johnny merely scoffed. "Quit the stupid face, Sonic. I'm not falling for-" He turned, and saw the tidal wave coming right at him, and let out a scream, raising his arms and shielding himself. Sonic took the opportunity to dive forward and grab Marine before the tidal wave hit them all, and they were sent underwater.

The force of the wave sent Sonic spinning in circles, and he catch a case of vertigo, unable to tell which way was the surface. Fortunately, he was still hanging onto Marine, who grabbed him around the waist and pulled him sideways… or it felt like sideways, but it ended up being the surface.

Once they both resurfaced, Sonic got of grip of his surroundings and his brain set right-side up again. However, his innate ability to sink in the water no matter what automatically kicked in and he grabbed Marine before he plummeted. She yanked him back up, and he grabbed her tightly.

"Oy!" she cried, "Quit that! I ain't no life preserver!"

"Sorry!" he cried as he continued to cling onto the raccoon for dear life, "But I can't swim!"

They both went underwater for a moment, and Marine quickly helped Sonic to resurface.

"It's ripper to see ya again, Sonic," Marine gasped, "But I'm havin' trouble holdin' ya 'ere! Ya ain't exactly a lightweight, ya know!"

Before they could fall back under water, they found themselves surrounded by a light blue glow, and suddenly, they were lifted up from the water.

"Need a lift?"

Sonic looked over to see Silver hovering close by with his palms extended, holding him and Marine in the air. He wiped your forehead in relief. "Yeah…" he sighed, "Thanks a lot."

"Strewth!" Marine cried, "What kinda power's this, then? Sonic, it seems ya brought some new blokes with ya, and with new magic powers at that! This flying is too ripper!"

Silver glanced over at Sonic. "Your friend..?"

The hedgehog gave a low sigh. "Yeah, she's with me… Sad to say."

"Oy!" Marine shouted, "Don't be spewin' that nonsense, ya whacker! Don't forget I helped ya save the world last time y'came ta' visit!"

"She's sounds lovely," Silver murmured. He then shot the other way, dragging Sonic and Marine behind him, and headed back towards the shore. The entire way, the two hedgehogs were forced to put up with Marine's babbling as she chimed with joy flying through the air.

Once they arrived back, they saw all the invading pirates were now in heaps of scrap metal. The village was a mess, but the villagers themselves seemed in good health, and were very appreciative of them stopping to help and save them from the invaders.

As soon as the three touched ground once more, Amy doesn't waste a second glomping Sonic, hugging tightly. "Sonic!" she chimed, "I'm so glad you're okay!" She quickly pulled back and smacked him in the shoulder, "That was completely reckless of you!" she shouted angrily, "You know you can't swim! If you had lost your footing in that water, you'd be a sure goner! What were you thinking, worrying me like that?!"

Sonic sheepishly scratched the back of your head. "Sorry, Amy," he said, "But I had to save my friend."

Amy glared over at Marine. "And just who IS that raccoon girl anyway?!"

"Marine!"

Marine was suddenly swept up and hugged tightly by two adults, one a brown and tan female raccoon, and the other an orange, plump male badger. "Aw, my lil' sea pup, are you all right?!"

"Oy, Ma, I'm fine!" Marine replied, "C'mon, put me down. Yer embarassin' me in front of my mates!"

"Yer mates?" the badger looked over to Sonic and his group. He studied the blue hedgehog hard, as if trying to recognize him.

"Yeah, Pa," says Marine as she was placed back down, "Does the blue guy look familiar? I told you 'bout 'im, and his two-tailed cobber! Those are Sonic and Tails!"

"Well I'll be stuffed!" the badger exclaimed, taking hold of Sonic's hand and shaking it wildly, "And 'ere I thought Marine was just yabberin' a bunch o' nonsense. She does tend to see herself as a tall-poppy, after all."

That manner of lingo… those looks… the fact that she called them "Ma" and "Pa"….

"You're Marine's parents?" Sonic exclaimed.

"What? You're surprised?" Marine asked, "Course I have rellies. Did'ja think I was a dero or somethin'?"

"A what..?"

"Y'know, a homeless bloke!"

The raccoon woman approached Sonic. "Sonic, was it?" she said, "I saw you an' the silver one bringin' my girl back from that horrible torpedo-lookin' pirate." She engulfed him tightly in a hug. "Thanks for savin' her. I know she's a handful, but she's all we got left, and I just love her dearly."

Sonic smiled and hugged back. "Feeling's mutual."

"Aw, no worries about the earlier insult then," Marine stepped in between you both, "And hey, these two are my oldies, Sheila and Irwin."

"G'day, mates!" the badger, Irwin, nodded his head in greeting. Everybody nodded back politely.

"Now why we all standin' 'round here?" asked the raccoon, Sheila, "I've had tea roastin' the past hour, but got distracted with all them pirates running amuck."

"Oh dear," said Amy, "I hope your tea isn't ruined… But you can always just make more, right?"

"Ha ha!" Sheila laughed, "Lucky for us, we're having Seaweed Tucker! Ruin the first batch, just get more seaweed. It's not hard to come by in this part of the island."

Sonic blinked. "Uh… seaweed?"

* * *

Sonic was surprised at the meal placed in front of him on the kitchen table at Marine's home. Although Marine's mother had clearly said "tea", apparently she must have meant "dinner". On his plate was a loaf of seaweed, shaped like meatloaf.

Well… it smelled good at least.

"Don't be shy now," Sheila chimed, "Bog in!"

Marine and Irwin didn't waste a moment and shoveled pieces of the tucker in their mouths. Everyone else looked apprehensive. Since the smell was appetizing, Sonic was the first to cut himself a piece and try it out. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad! It was a little slimy in texture, but the sea-salt really gave it flavor. Once everyone saw he was enjoying it, they took a chance and started to chow down as well.

"All right then," Irwin spoke up, "Glad you're all enjoyin' the grub. But it's time t'quit the manners and talk durin' tea. Marine, what'd that green bloke want with ya? He seemed intent on takin' ya with 'im."

"That bloke was Johnny," Marine replied, "He worked with Captain Whiskers tryin' ta steal Blaze's Jeweled Scepter. Haven't seen 'im since we all defeated Whisker and he went runnin'. Kinda surprised to see im' show up outta the blue."

"But what does he want with you, sea-pup?" Sheila asked.

"Don't rightly know," Marine scratched her head, "Maybe revenge on givin' 'im a major beat down."

"That's one heck of a revenge scheme, especially after all this time," you replied, "And why only you?"

"'Cause clearly I'm the biggest threat!" Marine responded smugly.

"Marine, ya really shouldn't be up yerself like that," said Irwin, "It's gonna get ya into more trouble. Like when that Johnny bloke went after you, and only you."

"Not to mention those 'pirates' were actually robots," Silver added, "There's no doubt in my mind that Nega's behind all this."

"Nega?" Marine lifted her head towards Silver.

"That's right," said Tails, "Remember, he was the one that created Captain Whiskers AND Johnny. But why go after Marine?"

"Maybe to get Blaze's attention?" Sonic suggested.

"Blaze?" Amy blinked, "What, are you saying this is BLAZE'S dimension?"

Sonic nodded. "Sorry, I guess in all the excitement of the battle AND Seafood Tucker, I forgot to mention this is the Sol Dimension."

"Makes sense, seeing how the entrance to this world looked like it was ablaze," Knuckles mentioned.

Sonic looked back over to Marine. "So how's Blaze doing, anyway?"

He couldn't help but notice a hint of jealousy in Amy's eyes when he asked.

Marine looked downward sadly. "Haven't heard from her in weeks," she replied, "I know I ain't easy to be around, but Blaze and I were gettin' along great! I used to be able to lob in whenever I wanted, and she'd always see me. She was also really helpin' me with my powers."

"Powers..?" Tails raised an eyebrow.

"Oy, doncha remember?" she replied, "You two were there when I first was able to summon it and help stop that Egg Wizard. Blaze was helping me hone my powers. Turns out I can control water, just like she can control fire!"

Sonic thought back to the last time he was in this world and fighting Eggman and Eggman Nega, and recalled when Marine shot a mysterious power out of her fist. He meant to ask about this, but he was in the middle of an epic battle, and afterwards, he sort of forgot all about it…

Now that he was remembering, it all made sense… Especially with that tidal wave that he thought came out of nowhere while chasing Johnny. That actually came from Marine!

"So now that we got good oil on Eggman Nega being a foot, perhaps we oughta go see Blaze," Marine piped up, "Maybe now she'll have ta' come out and see me!"

"That ain't an option for you, Marine!" Sheila scolded, "No way am I lettin' you outta my sight after what happened!"

"Aw, but Ma!" Marine cried, "They're my friends! I'm their team leader! They need me to go along!"

Shadow scoffed quietly. "Funny, we seemed to be doing fine without her…"

"Marine, I don't like layin' down the law like so," Sheila continued, "But you shouldn't be goin' with these diggers! This ain't no child's play, this is a real mission that includes none other than Eggman Nega himself!"

Marine glowered. "But Ma-!"

"Marine, ya heard yer mother!" Irwin roared.

The sound of his voice blew everybody back into their seats. Marine's eyes began to swell with tears, and Irwin's fierce look eased up. "Look, pup," he said calmly, "We're not tryin' to be whackers on you." He places a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "We just don't wanna lose you like we lost yer sister."

Marine glanced away. "Aw, Pa, why you gotta bring that up?"

"Marine, we just want to keep you safe, that's all," said Sheila.

"But…!" Marine looked to Sonic, pleadingly. He looked to Marine, then to her parents, then back to Marine, and so forth… He didn't want to upset his friend, but he certainly didn't want to upset her very kind and courteous parents…

The only thing that could come to mind is to change the subject. "So, um… Marine… I didn't know you had a sister."

Marine's eyes dipped downward. Irwin and Sheila's faces saddened. Amy harshly elbowed Sonic's side. "Sonic, really!" she hissed, "Did you have to bring THAT up?!"

"No, it's fine," Sheila replied, "Maybe it's good oil you hear about it. See, Marine ain't our only pup… We had another daughter. Her name was Sticks." She lowered her head, "She was only seven years old when we lost her…"

"What… happened?" Tails asked nervously.

Irwin clenched his fist in anger. "Eggman Nega happened, that's what!"

Silver narrowed his eyes. "Eggman Nega?"

"Marine was barely a year old the day he first caused trouble," Irwin continued, "There we were in the valley up north, having ourselves a little family picnic. Sticks never seen away from the beach before, and wanted to take a look-see. Girl's a natural explorer and a survivor, just like her old man… We thought she could go off on her own for a bit and be okay…"

Sheila picked up the story. "But then, this weird thing in the sky opens up… Like a black hole or what not!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like a Chaos Control…"

"Well, whatever it was, a whole heap of broken machinery and parts of some sort of building fell through. If'n that ain't weird enough, one of them doo-hickeys that fell through the sky started glowing, like it was activatin' again. Suddenly, that void started sucking things INSIDE instead of out!"

"I ran off to find Sticks as quick as I could," Irwin continued, "The doo-hickeys were sucked back in, but then so were other things, like trees, bits of mountains, birds' nests….." He dropped his head, "Sticks…" He paused a moment as tears formed in his eyes. "I… I jumped after her. She was already inside the portal, but I wanted to go in after her and pull her out… But that's when the flash happened."

"Flash?" Shade questioned.

"Another Chaos Control, I imagine," Shadow said.

"There was a flash," said Irwin, "And the portal closes up… without me. I fall towards the ground. Luckily, a bigger bird saw me and saved me in time…" He choked a bit, "But Sticks had gone walkabout. We haven't seen her since!"

Amy's own eyes began tearing up. "That's so terrible..!"

"Yeah," Sonic softly replied, "I… shouldn't have asked. I'm really sorry."

"But you see," said Sheila, "That's exactly why we don't want Marine going off on this journey with yous! It hurt like anything when we lost our first daughter. We can't imagine losing our other!"

"But Ma," Marine spoke, "I'm not just goin' along with any other mate. This 'ere is Sonic! And he's as fair dinkum as Blaze herself! And if his friends are just as good tall poppies, then you really 'ave nothin' ta' worry about! Come on, whattya say?"

Sheila and Irwin looked to each other, their faces still filled with doubt.

Marine looked back over to Sonic. "C'mon, Sonic, you've seen me in action! Tell my folks that I'm safe with you!"

Sonic looked over to Irwin and Sheila. "Listen," he started, "I know you're worried about Marine, but I can tell you from first-hand experience the girl's got what it takes to keep herself safe."

Tails gave him a questioning look. Sonic glared back at him and continued. "I mean it. I remember that time against the Egg Wizard. We wouldn't have stopped the Eggmen without her help. And that tidal wave earlier, wow, now THAT'S skill!"

Marine grinned in response. "You reckon?!"

"I reckon," Sonic grinned back, "Maybe she still has a lot to learn, but she'll never learn if she's just gonna be side-lined."

Sheila and Irwin looked at Sonic, faces still filled with uncertainty. Sonic gave them an assuring nod. "And besides," he went on, "She's got an entire team of heroes from another dimension looking out for her." He then looked over to Marine and smiled. "Not to mention we've still got to pick up Blaze on the way. I promise- your daughter's in good hands."

Irwin looked downwards, scratching his head. "No parent in their right mind oughta let their lil' girl face danger head on…" He then gave a heavy sigh, "But our lil' girl is somethin' different."

"Too right," Sheila replied.

Irwin then sharply glared at Sonic. "So see here, tall poppy," he said harshly, "You best to take good care of my little sea pup! If even the smallest bit of harm comes to her, I'll be cooking YOU for dinner, y'got me?!"

Sonic gave a small gulp. "Yes sir…"

He hoped Marine joining his party would be worth all this trouble…

* * *

Though he had to admit, it was nice being back on the Ocean Tornado.

"Set sails for the Northern Mountains!" Marine shouted to nobody in particular. She was the one piloting the vessel, so basically she was shouting directions to herself, "We're off to Solstice Kingdom!"

"I hope you just know how to drive this thing," Knuckles replied rather worriedly.

"No worries, mate!" Marine called back, "I took a few pointers from Tails, and I can sail any ship ya send my way!"

Sonic smirked. "Looks like she'll come in handy after all."

"You better be right about this," Shadow grunted towards him, "Because I don't know how much more senseless chatter I can put up with…"

The boat ride itself was pleasant enough. It was smooth sailing and the weather was clear. Sonic decided not to mention anything about it, though. The last thing he wanted was to jinx himself…

He stayed closer to the center of the boat, not wanting to look overboard. He didn't want to be reminded too much that he was in the middle of the ocean. Water water everywhere, and not the ability to even doggy paddle. At some point, Amy must have sensed his anxiety and sat next to him as he was leaning against a crate.

"Don't worry, Sonic," she cooed at him, "If we hit an iceberg and the boat starts to sink, I'll be the one to let you on the raft. Though it'd be a lot more romantic if we BOTH found a way to stay afloat."

Sonic's stomach turned at the mere mention of "boat starts to sink".

"Oh stop it," Amy spoke harshly, "Does the idea of romance really make you sick?"

"No," he replied, "The idea of sinking to our deaths does…"

Amy hooks her arm around his. "You have nothing to worry about, Sonic," she chimed, "I'll be here to protect you, no matter what."

"What? SONIC needing protecting?!"

The two jumped at the sound of Marine's voice suddenly right next to them. "Marine?" Sonic cried, "What are you doing? Why aren't you steering the ship?"

Marine hitched her thumb backwards. "Cruise control, mate!"

"Cruise control?!" Sonic and Amy shouted together and quickly looked to the ship's wheel… Only to find Tails calmly at the helm.

Sonic let out a breath as Marine bursted into cackles. "I'm just joshin' ya, mates!" she said happily, "I got a little tired of driving, so Tails offered to take over. I already set the course, so he knows what to do."

"That's nice," Amy replied quickly, "I'm sure you'll want to wander around a bit and talk to all the others."

"Maybe later," Marine plopped herself right next to Sonic and hooked his other arm with her own. He could tell this was annoying Amy greatly. "Listen, Sonic," Marine said, "I don't think I got a chance to thank you for convincin' my oldies to let me come along on this trip."

"No problem," Sonic shrugged, "I figured you deserve a chance to prove yourself more than just a chatterbox."

Marine glares at you. "Oy! I am more than that! An' I don't even think I am a chatterbox! I'm just full of good oil!"

"More like 'hot air'," Amy grumbled.

"S'cuse me?" Marine glared over.

"It's just when my friend Cream asked if she could come along when we were first looking for Shade," said Amy, "Sonic insisted on leaving her behind." She then gave Sonic a fierce look, "Never mind the fact that she HAS been helpful in past adventures, such as rescuing her own mother-"

"Which I helped her do, AFTER I rescued HER first," he cut in.

"Okay, fine," Amy huffed, "But what about the time Metal Sonic imprisoned Eggman and took over the entire EGG FLEET? We ALL had to pull together to stop him!"

"With all due respect," Sonic grunted, "You guys took the easy routes. The rest of us did all the hard work."

Amy released your arm. "We still helped, didn't we?"

"Look, Amy," said Sonic, "We didn't know what we were against. It was best for Cream that we didn't involve her in that sort of danger. Remember, the Marauders took out Knuckles with ease."

"Oh, so because Knuckles is an idiot, Cream has to be punished for it?" Amy snapped.

Sonic grit your teeth. "Amy, I'm seriously not in the mood to argue about this."

"Well, too bad, because somebody has to point out your hypocrisy!" Amy shouted back, "This isn't any less dangerous than going after the Marauders, but for some reason, you'd rather bring along an annoying young girl who doesn't know when to shut up over a sweet young girl who just wanted to help!"

"Oy, watch yer mouth, ya knocker!" Marine shouted, "Sounds like this Cream girl's a bit useless. She'd only weigh us down."

"You don't know Cream like I do!" Amy shouted back, "Back in our world, she even led the rebellion against the Eggman Empire, and grew up to be a badass! Though she wouldn't of HAD to be if Sonic let her join our party…"

"Look, what's done is done," Sonic groaned.

"An y'got me now!" Marine snapped, "So live with it!"

"You don't have to remind me!" Amy shouted, "And Cream would sure as hell much more enjoyable company than you are!"

"Knock it off!" Sonic screamed, "Both of you! There's no reason to argue with each other. We're on the same team! And we've still got a long adventure ahead of us, so you better get along, or I'm throwing you both overboard!"

Amy looked over to Sonic in shock. "Sonic, you would never do that to me, would you?!"

"Be nice to your teammates, and I won't have to consider it."

Amy glared at him harshly. After a while, she finally groans. "Fine…" she muttered. She glared at Marine before giving a huff and walking away.

"Strewth," Marine muttered as she watched Amy storm off, "Whatta bounce. How d'ya put up with that rubbish?"

"The same way I put up with you," Sonic glared down at Marine, "Look, I know you're a good kid, Marine. But if you hadn't proven last time that you had untapped power, I would've left you at your parents' place."

Marine opened her mouth to argue, but Sonic quickly cut her off. "If you're going to stay with us, you need to behave yourself. Try to get along with the others. Don't be bossy, or they won't want you around. Cream was a nice girl who COULD be helpful sometimes, but I still felt it was better to keep her back. So you need to prove to me, AND everyone, that you deserve to be here. You wouldn't want another instance like when Blaze called you a 'nuisance', now would you?"

Marine looked rather offended by the way she was being spoken to. But she buckled down, pouted, and nodded.

"Good," Sonic then gave an assuring grin, "Now, go relax, before we make it to Blaze's-"

"Land-ho!"

They looked up at Tails, still at the helm. He stared ahead, and Sonic followed his gaze. Far off in the distance, he noticed land just over the horizon.

"Bonzer!" Marine cheered, "We were closer than I figured!" She happily bounced off, "I can't wait to see Blaze again! Hopefully, she'll actually be happy to see me!" She looked up at you with a wink. "Bet she'll be happy to see you too, mate."

You blink, astonished, and sheepishly scratch the back of your head.

The Ocean Tornado sailed closer to the kingdom. As they neared the docks, Marine took over, and smoothly maneuvered in an available space. Everyone boarded off, and a few dockworkers helped tie the ship to the posts.

"Keep a good eye on her!" Marine ordered them, "And I better not see any scratches on the side! I just gave 'er a new polish job!"

"AHEM!" Sonic grabbed Marine's attention.

"Oh right…" She rushed over to the others to take the lead, but turned her head back quickly to give the dockworkers an "I'm watching you!" sign. She then rushed ahead of the group. "This way!" she chimed, "I use t'be able to park my ships near the castle, but Blaze had tightened security lately. Dunno what the issue goin' on is 'ere…"

"I can only guess," Knuckles sarcastically grumbled.

As everyone walked down the streets of Solstice Kingdom, it occured to Sonic that this was the first time ever seeing Blaze's kingdom. The last time he was in her world, they mostly stuck to the south and never had the chance to explore all over the globe, nor did Blaze have time to invite him to her home.

It was beautiful. It almost reminded Sonic of Soleanna in his own world. It made sense, since Soleanna was a kingdom that revolved around a Sun God, and Blaze was a master of pyrokinesis. Being a princess, guardian, AND a skilled fighter at that, it wouldn't have surprise Sonic if Blaze was also considered a Goddess in this city as well…

The thought made him chuckle at bit.

"Sonic!" Amy hissed suddenly.

He looked over in surprise. "What?" he asked innocently.

"I saw that," Amy snorted, "I can see you're obviously excited about meeting Blaze again."

"Well, it has been a while. I'm sort of looking forward to it."

Amy narrowed her eyes fiercely. "There better not be anything between you two!"

Sonic almost fell over. "What?" he spat, "No! It's not like that! Come on!"

"It better not be," Amy growled, "Because if she tries anything, princess or not, she's getting a hammer to the head!"

"Come on, Amy," Sonic said, "Blaze and I are just friends. There's no reason for the jealousy, okay?"

Amy took a deep breath. "Fine..."

"And besides," he grinned, "She'd probably set you on fire before you get the chance to hit her."

"Hey!" Amy shouted.

"Cut it out, you two," Silver called back to you, "If we're going to be meeting royalty, you need to be on your best behavior."

"With Blaze?" Marine called back, "Aw, she don't need th' royal treatment. She's never up herself. We treat 'er like we treat any other average mate."

"I would expect that behavior from a bumpkin…" Shadow grumbled quietly.

After walking several more blocks, Marine brought the group up to a gated area. Sonic looked up to see ahead of him a large castle. "This is Blaze's home?" he asked in disbelief.

"Sure is!" Marine replied, "It's been a while since I last rocked up the castle. I reckon Blaze misses me and will let me in this time 'round!"

Rouge crossed her arms. "Yeah, we'll see…"

Before Marine had the chance to even enter the gate, two guards stepped out, blocking her path. "Halt!"

"Oy!" Marine shouted, "Don'cha diggers know who I am? I'm Blaze's best cobber!"

"We know you very well," one of the soldiers grunted.

"Seriously, who here can forget you?" the other sighed.

"Then why won't Blaze let me see her?" Marine moaned, "You lot keep turnin' me away! I used to be welcomed here all the time!"

"We've told you before, Marine. In fact, over a dozen times," the soldier replied, "Blaze has been dealing with Eggman Nega and his threats for over a month now. She can't stop such important business to entertain you!"

"Rubbish!" Marine spewed, "That's the same ol' excuse you said LAST time! And before that! At least be more creative when ya lie!"

"Because it's NOT a lie," the soldier responded, "That's seriously WHY she can't come out to play. You have no idea how stressed she's been lately… The last thing she needs is to hear YOUR voice…"

"An' what's WRONG with my voice, mind ya?!" Marine hissed.

Seeing this was getting everyone nowhere, Sonic stepped in, gently pushing Marine behind aside. "If you don't mind," he told the soldiers, "Please tell Blaze that Sonic the Hedgehog requests an invitation to enter."

The two soldiers eyed each other, then glanced back at him. "… Who?"

He almost fell over. "Really?! WHO?!"

"Sonic, you're in another dimension, remember?" Tails reminded him, "You're not as well known here as you are back home."

Sonic sighed. "Then listen," he told the guards, "Just tell Blaze Sonic's here to see her. Maybe YOU don't know who I am, but SHE does. Trust me."

The guards looked to each other again, then sighed. "Very well," one replied, "I'll go. I'll be back." He turned and headed through the large double doors to the castle.

The second guard looked over once more. "So…" he mumbled, "You say you're from another dimension?"

Sonic nodded, appreciating his interest, even if it was just to make conversation.

It wasn't long, however, before both the doors suddenly slammed open. The team glanced over in surprise.

There was Blaze, shocked, surprised, maybe even a hint of happy.

Sonic smiled. "Hey Blaze. Long time no see!"

Blaze returned his smile. "Likewise." She quickly made her way to him, as if she was about to suddenly hug him, but at the last moment, she restrained herself, gave a small cough, and offered a handshake.

Amy's hard stare was practically boring into Sonic's body. Plus he didn't want to embarrass Blaze, who was trying to remain professional. As much as he wanted to give her that hug, he instead smiled and accepted her handshake.

"I can't believe you're actually here, Sonic," Blaze said with a smile, "It's like whenever we're needed, we end up in the other's world to help."

"So I'm guessing you need our help regarding Eggman Nega?" he asked.

"I guess it's that obvious, huh?" Blaze glanced away to the side, lowering her head.

"Well, that and Marine clued us in," Sonic pointed back to the little raccoon.

Blaze appeared to lighten up at the sight of her friend. "Marine..!" she smiled, "I've missed you."

"You HAVE?!" Marine nearly exploded with excitement, "Bonzer! I was afraid you were mad at me!"

"It's a long story…" Blaze looked over to the rest of your party, "And it seems you have quite a tale yourself." She stepped to the side and motioned towards the open doors to the castle. "Welcome, everybody. Come in, and relax. We all have much to discuss."

* * *

...

* * *

**ALT. SCENE**

* * *

_ **Let Blaze Hug You** _

Sonic could see Blaze was trying to maintain her dignity, but she really wanted to hug him. And heck, he wanted to hug her too. He opened his arms. "C'mon, Blaze," he grinned, "We're buddies now! Lay one on me!"

Blaze smiled, accepting his invite, and wrapped her arms around you. He returned the gesture. _'This is nice...'_

"Uh… Sonic?"

Sonic didn't need to be told. He heeded one of his friends' warning and shoved Blaze out of the way before Amy could land her hammer on her. The angry pink hedgehog spun around to face Sonic, her face red with fury. "Sonic, how dare you?!" she screamed, "You said there was nothing between you two!"

"I can't hug my friends now?" Sonic shouted.

"Not if they're female!"

The guards were quick to step in, pointing their weapons at Amy. She tightened the grip on her hammer.

"Stand down!" Blaze ordered. The soldiers reluctantly did so, and the cat glared back over at Amy. "Control yourself," she ordered, "I don't often need protection, but my soldiers are very loyal and will attack anyone who means to harm."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "In that case, keep your paws off my Sonic!"

"Blaze is right, Amy," Sonic warned, "We're guests here. Don't attack Blaze over a little hug. We've got more important things to worry about than jealousy."

Amy gave a low growl, but put her hammer away. "Fine…"

You looked back over to Blaze. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Blaze responded, "I remember Amy all too well."

Amy grimaced in response.

"But you're right," Blaze continued, "We do have more important issues at hand. I don't know if you're aware, but Eggman Nega has been threatening and causing more problems around the world."

She looked over and noticed the rest of the party. "And it seems you've brought an entire army with you."

Sonic nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah. Actually, it's a long story…"

"It's fine," Blaze motioned towards the open doors of her castle, "Come in. We can discuss it while you all relax."


	11. Adventure in Blaze's World

Blaze brought everyone all inside the castle and to a large den with long, comfortable couches. She apologized for not giving them all the grand tour of the palace, but with the world being threatened, she wanted to get straight to business.

She started with asking about the crew and what brought them all to her dimension. They brought her up to speed with what has been happening, from the Marauders invading their world, to chasing Imperator Ix to the Twilight Cage, and upon returning to their world after battling him, over two hundred years had passed and the Eggman Empire had taken a strong hold on the planet, despite the efforts of the Resistance to take it back.

However, they had stuck it out in the future for a little while, and managed to banish Nega through an out of control Chaos Control.

"And I guess Nega was sent to this dimension," Blaze mused out loud, "Makes sense, since he literally appeared to drop out of the sky about seven years ago."

"But I don't get it!" said Silver, "Nega was only gone from our city a few days. How could he have been causing trouble for seven years here?!"

"Don't be daft, boy!" Shadow snapped, "Chaos Control can send you through both space and time. Clearly when the doctor disappeared, he was sent to an earlier timeline of this dimension."

"And all this time, we were fighting the same Eggman Nega, but from two different time periods," Sonic said as he rubbed his chin in thought, "Funny how things work."

Tails looked over to Blaze. "So Marine mentioned something about you cutting her off for a period of time," he said, "What's that about?"

"Yeah, Blaze!" Marine shouted angrily, "What IS that all about?"

"Like it isn't obvious?" Rouge muttered, crossing her legs without a care.

"It's not what you think," Blaze replied lowly, "I'm sorry I hadn't kept in touch with you, Marine. With all that's been going on, I had to keep on top of Eggman Nega. I didn't want you to get hurt…"

"Well, ya did hurt me, mate," Marine crossed her arms and fumed, "I thought you were mad at me. I get I can be a handful, but a reason would'a been nice… We were gettin' along so well an' everything…"

"You're right," Blaze replied, lowering her head, "I guess I still have a few things about friendship that I need to learn about." She raised it back up to Marine, "Can you forgive me?"

Marine glared viciously at her… but can't keep that face up for long before smiling and laughing. "Aw, what are best mates for?"

"It didn't do all that good anyway," Sonic said, "Johnny came back, and he attacked Marine's village. Even tried to take her hostage."

"He _what_?!" Blaze jumped to her feet, clenched fist in a flame.

"Easy, sheila!" Marine jumped over to calm her down, "I'm apples now. If Sonic and the others hadn't come when they did, it might be a different story though."

Blaze looks to Sonic, smiling and nodding appreciatively. "Thank you," she said, "It seems I owe you a lot."

Before he could reply, Amy leaped up and stood in front of you. "We'll hold you to that favor!" she hissed.

Blaze narrowed her eyes at the hedgehog. Sonic hoped it was because she didn't quite like Amy's rude behavior, and not some other awkward reason… "I suppose I don't have much choice," Blaze said, "I'm very much involved in this as well."

She turned to speak to everyone directly. "Nega has been attacking sections of the world spontaneously and without warning. My guess is he's trying separate diversion tactics as he searches for the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter."

"And you don't think he's going to look _here_?" Knuckles asked as he held his hands out, indicating the entire castle.

Blaze shook her head 'no'. "He knows I don't keep them here," she replied, "That _would _be too obvious. Ever since he last stole the Jeweled Scepter, we relocated them both to a new secret location, one where he has yet to discover, hence his multitude of attacks." She lowered her head in disgust. "Even innocent villages, like Marine's…"

She lifted her head back up. "My crew and I have been trying to pinpoint where his exact location may be. But as soon as we home in, he sends out a subordinate to throw us off guard. He himself is nowhere to be found, which is what gravely concerns me. Now that he's stooped to kidnapping my friends, I cannot afford to waste any more time. I must stop him at all costs!"

Silver stood from his seat and held a fist to his chest. "That's what we're here for!"

Blaze looked over, apprehensive. "I… I don't know," she murmured, "I appreciate your wanting to help, but I don't want to shoulder my problems onto all of you."

"_Your_ problems?" Silver grunted "In case you missed that part of Sonic's story, Eggman Nega ran a cruel empire on our world. He had nearly the whole planet in his grasp, and made so many people suffer. I came here to make sure no one else suffers by his hands ever again." He jabbed a finger in the air towards her, "So don't you _dare_ tell me this is your problem that you're shouldering onto us!"

Blaze blinked, astonished. She then lowered her head. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend you."

Silver softened up. "Hey, it's not a big deal," he assured, "It's just with a problem like this, you may need all the help you can get. So I wouldn't turn it away if I were you."

Blaze glanced up at him, then looked over to Sonic. He replied with his usual grin. "C'mon, Blaze," he said, "You're not seriously going to fall back on old habits again, are you?"

Blaze was quiet for a moment, before finally giving a smile of her own. "I suppose I could use a little help dealing with this."

* * *

Shortly afterwards, the meeting was moved from the den to the War Room, where Blaze's soldiers had a map of the world laid out. Sonic studied the map himself; it was just like his own world, only… it wasn't. Sure, there was an ocean, continents, islands, and the like… But they were much different than on his world. Different dimension, all right…

He noticed two different colored markers stuck to the map; Red and blue.

"We have different colored tabs on the map to indicate where Nega has attacked," a lion soldier said to him, as apparently he noticed him looking at the markers, "Red indicates areas he or his armies has already attacked. Blue indicates what remains untouched. We must keep our eyes open. He could strike any one of those blue markers…"

"I have my own soldiers stationed at most of these untouched areas," Blaze said as she pulled out a pointer stick, "They are to alert me right away if they spot even the slightest sighting of Nega."

She indicated the stick towards the bottom of the map, "As you can see by all these red markers, Eggman Nega has already covered most of the south. But we have look out stationed in areas just to be safe."

"You said Nega was looking for this Jeweled Scepter and your Sol Emeralds, correct?" said Shade, "Where are they now?"

"Forgive me," Blaze replied, "But I don't want to reveal their location to anybody. Safety reasons."

"Understandable…"

"All Nega knows is that they're somewhere out in this world," Blaze continued, "And he's getting desperate, attacking cities and our sister kingdoms in the hopes that I'll eventually cave in and give him the location of our treasures." She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists, "That's why it's vital to stop him as soon as we can."

"_Princess Blaze!"_

Everyone turned to see a familiar koala soldier (Gardon, Sonic recalled his name to be) rushing into the War Room, nearly out of breath. Probably had to run a good mile or so… "Eggman Nega has been spotted again!"

Blaze growls. "Where?!"

"We have confirmed sightings of Eggman Nega or Eggman-related personas in THREE separate locations!"

"_Three?!"_ Blaze's eyes widened, "Even I know he can't be in three places at once." She glared downward, "He's at one of them, but where? Gardon, where are these locations?"

"Northern App Mountains, North-Western Island, and out in the middle of the ocean in the far west."

"Nega knows I'm unable to investigate three locations at the same time," Blaze growled, "He's trying to throw me off my game."

Sonic crossed your arms confidently. "Too bad no one told him you added more players to your team."

Blaze looked up at you and nods. "Thank you, Sonic. This will make things much easier. We'll split up in three groups. I'll take one up north to the mountains."

"I'll check out one of the other locations," Knuckles offered.

"I'll go with you, Knuckles," said Shade.

Rouge narrowed her eyes, but got distracted when Shadow took her by the shoulder. "I'll lead the third team," he said, "Rouge, I'll need you and Omega to back me up… just in case."

Rouge smirked. "Whatever you say, handsome."

For some reason, that made Knuckles glare at her.

"I'll stick with you, Blaze!" Marine chimed.

"Then I'll take my chances with Knuckles' team," Amy grunted quickly afterwards.

Knuckles snorted in response. Tails stepped up to him. "No sweat, Knuckles," he said, "I've got your back as well."

"I'll go with Blaze," said Silver, "We can exchange intel about Eggman Nega on the way."

Blaze nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Somehow, Sonic had this gut feeling that Nega was chilling out at the Northern App Mountains. "I'll tag along with you too, Blaze."

Blaze smiled and nodded. Amy gave a little yelp. "What?" she cried, "Don't you want to go with ME?!" She looked over to Tails, Knuckles, and Shade. "Oh, and your friends too..?"

"Going far too west over the ocean doesn't really settle well with me," Sonic murmured, "I'd rather keep my feet on the ground, and not something I can easily drown under."

Amy pouted. "But Sonniiicc…!"

"Come on, Amy!" Knuckles nearly shouted, "This isn't a dating opportunity. The existence of our worlds are at stake here. We need to find and stop Eggman Nega!"

Amy's fists rattled in annoyance. "I know that," she growled, then glared over at Sonic, while also eyeing Blaze. "It's just that…"

Sonic knew exactly what her issue was, but he decided not to press it.

Marine on the other hand… "Oy!" she shouted, "If yer THAT worried Blaze is gonna snag Sonic from under yer nose, why not just join our party?"

Sonic cringed for a moment. The last thing he wanted was a cat fight- literally- between Blaze and Amy.

Fortunately, Amy reeled back at the idea. "Uh… No thanks. I'm good with these guys," she responded, then glared back at you, "I'll just trust Sonic will resist temptation the whole time you're out."

Sonic felt his cheeks start to pinken. Blaze blinked astonishingly at Amy. Then she gave an exasperated sigh. "You needn't worry," she grumbled, "Even if I wanted to, I have more important issues to focus on than flirting with Sonic."

Ouch. Right in the pride.

Silver smirked. "Don't worry, Amy," he said slyly, "I'll make sure Sonic behaves himself."

Amy smiled sweetly. "Aw, thanks Silver! I knew I could count on you!"

"Okay, enough of the childish chatter," Blaze said aloud, "Let's move out!"

* * *

Sonic, Blaze, Marine, and Silver were escorted to the Northern App Mountains via air ship. Blaze ordered the pilot to stay low. If Eggman Nega was indeed nearby, they didn't want to announce your arrival…

The ship nimbly flew just above the tip of the trees, skilled at missing anything that may strike them. It gave them enough cover, but they still got a good sight of the mountains ahead.

Blaze stared out the front window. "I don't see any sign of Nega," she murmured.

"Well strewth," Marine grunted, "I guess we wasted our time, if he ain't even 'ere."

Silver shook his head. "No," he replied, "He's good at hiding himself. Just when you think you're safe, he's suddenly there." He looked down at his side, still bandaged tightly. "I know that all too well…"

"Don't worry," said Blaze, "We're not turning around until we've scoped this entire mountain."

"Awww, that'll take all day!" Marine whined.

"Then WHY did you come?" Silver grunted.

"I came for the action, mate!" the raccoon girl clenched her fists and bounced on her toes, "First sight of Nega, I'll waterbomb the mustached doof!"

"Believe me, kid," said Silver, "It's NOT that easy…"

The controls began to beep, and everybody's attention was brought to it. "What is it?" Blaze asked.

"Sonar feedback," the pilot replied, "Unknown electrical source in the distance."

They all look out the window again. Still nothing.

"Is your radar on the fritz?" Marine asked, "There still ain't anythin' up there."

"Unless…" Sonic squinted ahead. Sure, nothing looked out of the ordinary… but those clouds above had a rather strange imprint. He snapped his fingers. "He's there!" he shouted, "Whatever he's riding in, it's invisible!"

"What'cha?!" Marine cried, "He knows magic?"

"More like REALLY advanced science," Silver replied, "Nega knows how to build cloaking devices."

"You can thank the Nocturne clan for supplying that," Sonic said, "Or the original Eggman for stealing it."

"Figures," said Blaze, "But we try to stay ahead as much as we can. We were able to build detectors that could pick up such signals."

"Really?" Silver looked over, "You wouldn't mind sparing some of that tech, would you? To help my world?"

Blaze nodded. "Of course," she smiled, "We'll give you a copy of our blueprints."

"Thank you."

"OY!" Marine's scream suddenly grabbed all of their attention. The raccoon was frantically pointing ahead at the mountain. "I see no ship, but get a gander at that there drill comin' out of nowhere!"

They followed her gaze, and in fact saw a large drill dropping from the clouds and smashing into the top of the mountain, and slowly but surely making its way downward.

"No..!" Blaze cried, "I don't know how, but he found the location of the safe hold!" She turned to the pilot. "Drop down! Let us out! With Sonic here, we can reach Nega much quicker."

"No problem!" Sonic gave a thumbs up.

The ship landed, and the team quickly piled out. "Grab on, everyone!" he held out his arms to the others.

"No need," Silver offered, "I can keep up with my psychokinesis. I'll take one of the girls too, if you'd like."

"Ooo! Ooo!" Marine jumped up, waving her arms wildly, "Take me, take me! I loved that last flight you put me through!"

Silver levitated and held out his palm, engulfing Marine in a light blue glow and lifting her from the ground. She giggled ecstatically. Sonic placed a firm arm around Blaze's waist as she wrapped one around his shoulders. "Let's hurry!" she ordered.

Sonic and Silver raced through the trees towards the mountain ahead. It wasn't a long trip at all, and they reached the side in no time. Sonic skidded to a halt, just as Silver landed with Marine close by.

Blaze took a step back, gazing upwards as she assessed the situation, the others following suit. The mountain was several hundred miles high, but they could still hear the loud machinery and feel the vibration from the drill under their feet.

"Even from below, we can hear that drill make a commotion," Blaze said, "If we enter through the entrance nearby and work our way up, there's a chance we could get caught in a cave-in… I sincerely doubt Nega's being careful, even when looking for the Sol Emeralds."

"We could go straight up," Sonic suggested.

Silver shook his head. "Then we'll be wide open for Nega to strike us."

"Then we just gotta be sneaky about it!" Marine grinned.

"You don't know Eggman Nega like I do," Silver almost shouted, "He covers his bases, and plans every possible outcome as much as he can. We've only been lucky so few times…"

"Quit yer belly achin', mate!" Marine shouted, "You managed to chase him into OUR world, didn'cha? You know how to beat 'im now!"

"Look, if it were THAT easy, we could've won that war a long time ago!"

"_Enough!"_ Blaze boomed, "We don't have time to argue! Either way, we're taking a chance, but need to be quick. Either we go through the entrance while risking being caught in a cave-in, or we just rush up with Silver and hope nothing is waiting to attack us if we get too close."

"I vote Fly Boy!" Marine chimed.

"My name is _Silver_," the silver-furred hedgehog groaned, "And I say it's better to go through the entrance and try to hit him from the inside."

Blaze glanced over to the blue hedgehog. "Your thoughts, Sonic?"

Sonic switched from staring up the mountain to the direction of entrance, carefully considering his options. Finally, he came to a decision. "Let's do the entrance," he said, "We'll have a better chance at catching Nega by surprise if we're not in the clear opening."

Silver nodded. "I agree."

Marine crossed her arms and pouted. "Aw, rats. I wanted to go flyin' again."

"We'll play when we're at peace again, Marine," said Blaze, "Right now we must stop Nega before he reaches those emeralds. Follow me!"

Blaze dashed towards the mountainside. She wasn't as fast as Sonic, but the hedgehog did pour on a respectable amount of speed to follow her, with Silver and Marine not too far behind. She finally slowed to a halt as she approached what looks like the result of a massive rock slide, one boulder on top of another. "The entrance is beyond here."

Sonic gave a low whistle as he scratched his head. "Gonna take a while to clear this mess though."

"That's the secret," Blaze smiled and walked up to the side, "It LOOKS like a bunch of rocks… but they're all connected as a hidden door." She pushesd against the rocks, and Sonic noticed the clutter simultaneously moving together, just barely revealing an entrance-way. "Ungh…!" Blaze grunted as she kept pushing, "Would you guys mind giving me a hand with this?"

"Allow me," Silver took a hold of the door with his psychokinesis, and with a simple wave of his hand, easily pushed it to the side, revealing a complete entrance.

Blaze wiped her forehead and nodded her appreciation to Silver. "Thanks a lot," she smiled, before turning serious again, "Now let's hurry!" She raced inside, and the other three hurried to catch up.

Once inside, it was pitch dark. Blaze lit a flame in her palm as she led on through winding hallways and up hills. Sonic didn't know where to go or what to expect, but as they continued on, he heard the drilling of Nega's machine grow increasingly louder, and the vibrations growing harder. Therefore, he placed his trust in Blaze's directions and followed without argument.

After a while, as they ran up one of the steep hills, he noticed Marine is falling behind, and slowed to a halt. "Marine, you okay?" he called back to her.

The raccoon girl finally stopped and leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "I ain't as speedy or energetic as yous!" she heaved, "I gotta take a quick rest."

"Well hurry up, before-"

Sonic didn't have the chance to finish that sentence as everything around him rattled violently. He fell forward, landing hard on his stomach. As he tried to pick himself up, he saw Marine had fallen and was rolling backwards down the hill. "Marine!"

"Look out!" Blaze cried up ahead, "The drill's right next to us! The ceiling's coming down!"

Just as she said this, Sonic saw stalactites and pieces of rocks falling his direction. However, being the fastest thing alive, he was able to evade and nimbly dodge each danger. He did catch sight of Marine stumbling to the ground as crumbling ceiling pieces fell towards her. He quickly dashed down, scooped her up, and jumped away before a massive stalactite could pierce her.

As he landed, he found the floor crumbling beneath his feet, and quickly jumped up once more, landing a foot on the wall and pushing off to land on another piece of falling rock. Via the Triangle Jump maneuver, he jumped from rock to rock to boulder to debris, making his way across the room, until he almost smashed into a twisting metal pole, attaching to the drill. He grabbed hold to keep from crashing into it, and twirled around downwards as he slid down while holding Marine tightly to his body.

"Wooo hah!" Marine cried, "The world's goin' dizzer!"

"Sonic! Marine!" Blaze's voice rang out.

"Are you guys all right?" Silver cried out from above. Sonic looked up, and as he was spinning around on top of the drill, he was able to catch sight of Silver hovering above, holding Blaze near him with his powers.

"We're fine!" he shouted back, "But it's kinda hard to try and get out of here!"

"Never mind that!" Blaze shouted, "Nega's nearing the treasures! We'll go on ahead above and stop him! Go down and protect the emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter!"

"Roger that!" Sonic shouted back. He held Marine tightly as he clung to the drill, making its way further and further down. He wasn't sure how to get to the treasures himself, and Blaze wasn't here to guide them, so he decide riding the drill downwards was the only way to go.

After a long while of spinning around and around, the two broke into a large open space. The ceiling crumbled, and the drill finally slowed, giving Sonic a chance to finally hop off. He was able to maintain balance, as he did spin attacks often, so dizziness didn't affect him one bit. Marine on the other hand sluggishly staggered from one end of the room to the other the moment she was placed down. "Holy dooley..!" she whined, "I don't think my head'll ever stop spinnin'!"

"Get it together, Marine!" Sonic ordered, "We need to find the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter before Nega has the chance to make his way down here."

"Too late for that!" a booming voice shouted out. Sonic whipped around to the drill as hatch right above it slid wide open, and an army of Egg Pawns marched in with spears and guns. They readily surrounded the two. "Did you really think I was going to wait all the way on the top of this mountain where any invasive animal could come by and attack me unguarded?" Nega strolled out of the compartment himself and stood with his hands on his hips. "Of course I was in the cockpit controlling the drill as my army stayed above to fight anyone off! Now if you'll be so kind to hand me the treasures…"

"Sure," Sonic reploed sarcastically, "You want them on a silver platter, or gold encrusted with diamonds?"

"Mock all you want, hedgehog," Nega sneered, "But I'm far more intelligent and strategic than my ancestor- the Eggman YOU'RE too familiar with. You're about to mess with a robot army out of your league!"

Sonic still managed to smile with confidence. "I bet there's one thing you didn't account for, Egg-Neg," he said smugly, "Did you know Marine has hydrokinetic powers?"

Nega's grin disappeared as he raised an eyebrow. "She what..?"

Sonic glanced over at Marine. "Show 'im!"

Marine excitedly clenched her fists, emitting a green glow on each, and then forced them forward, shooting a blast of water into Nega and his army of pawns. They were blasted clear across the open area.

"I'll take over," Sonic told Marine as the water died down, "Hurry and find the treasures!"

Marine nodded, turned, and rushed off. The pawns, unfortunately waterproof, scrambled back to their feet and raised their weapons, but they didn't have the chance to use them as the hedgehog spun and homing attack each one. They fell over, but their casing over the years had become much thicker than what you're used to. This may take a while, and Sonic wasn't entirely sure if he could handle this on his own.

He glanced back at Marine, who was digging up every possible spot for any sign of the treasures. He figured she could use some help. The quicker they found these treasures, the better…

But he probably shouldn't risk letting these stronger robots run a muck in the same room as them.

_'What should I do_?'

"Keep at it, Marine!" Sonic shouted as he spun into another pawn, knocking it back a little, "I'll hold them off as long a little while longer!"

"Bonzer!" Marine suddenly shrieked, and held up a long staff with a crescent-shaped top. "I found the Jeweled Scepter!"

"I'll take that!"

A large, robotic claw suddenly shot out and snagged Marine and the scepter. Panicked, Sonic looked over to see Nega had gotten back into the drill's cockpit and detached it, making it a floating battle mech. Nega pulled Marine closer. "Hand it over, little girl!"

Marine struggled, but kept the scepter close to her. "No way!" she shouted, "You're gonna have ta' crush th' life outta me first, mate!"

"I honestly have to qualms with that."

"Ooops."

_'Nice going, Marine…' _Sonic thought, but didn't waste a second and ducked into his famous spin attack, launching himself at Nega. The mech was knocked over, but remained upright. Nega turns to face Sonic and released another metallic claw at him, but he nimbly dodged, and Nega ended up smacking into and destroying a line of pawns nearby.

Sonic grinned. "You just made things a bit easier for me. Thanks!"

Nega could be heard growling and twisted around to attack again. Sonic jumped over the mech's claw and Homing-Attacked the cockpit, managing to inflict some major damage. The second claw dropped Marine, and she fell flat on her bottom, along with the scepter.

Nega shot up into the air. "That's it!" he shouted, "Time to meet your maker!" He raised both claws, which bent backwards to reveal two laser holes, charging up. The same went for his chest.

Sonic grew a bit worried. "This isn't good…"

**BLAM!**

He barely managed to dodge the attack, just singing the tip of his blue quills. Nega twisted around, trying to aim all 3 lasers at him, and blasting every bit of the mountain in the process. Sonic scooped Marine up in your arms once more, getting her out of harm's way as Nega continued to blast everything. "Cut it out, you lunatic!" he screamed, "You're gonna bring the whole place down!"

"As long as I take you with it, you annoying blue pest!" Nega snarked, shooting at him some more as you dodge.

"We're trapped!" Marine cried, tightening her grip around your shoulders, "We're bailed up like rats! We've done for! We're as good as cactus! We're-"

"Marine, shut up, I'm trying to think!" Sonic shouted as he kept running away from the blasts and the crumbling bits of mountain falling all around him.

"What's there t'think about?" Marine cried, "Death is upon us! Unless you have some convenient do-dad on ya that could help us!"

Sonic thought about that… The only thing he knew that was on his person was…

_The Chaos Emeralds!_

"We're outta here!" he chimed as he fished one out of his glove and hed it to the sky, "_Chaos Control!"_

As the cavern collapsed around them, Sonic and Marine found themselves surrounded by a swirl of a bright white flash. Once it died down, they found themselves back outside, nearby the side of the mountain. As Sonic found his footing back on the ground, he accidentally dropped Marine as he fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Oy, Sonic!" Marie clambered over and placed a concern hand on his shoulder, "You all right?"

"Whew," Sonic sighed, giving her a small smile, "Yeah. Just not used to doing chaos-based techniques the way Shadow does…"

_*Ker-ASH!*_

Sonic and Marine turned their heads to see the complete Northern App Mountains falling apart, crumbling on top of itself one layer at a time.

Marine frowned. "Strewth… that's a whole heap o' mess to clean up in the mornin'…"

"Marine! Sonic!"

Sonic turned his head to see Silver, carrying Blaze next to him with his powers, soaring overhead, and landing next to you. The first thing Blaze did was rush to Marine and check her out. "Are you two all right?" she asked quickly, "How did you escape? I was worried you got caught in the cave-in! I should've never sent you down there, even with Sonic to protect you. What was I thinking?"

"Cool your jets, sheila!" Marine moaned, "I'm all apples, and so's Sonic." She then clenched her fists with excitement, "Holy dooley, you should'a been there, Blaze! It was ripper how we went up against Eggman Nega! He had his big bad army of Egg Pawns, but we showed 'em a thing or two, didn't we Sonic?"

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you weren't too bad, kiddo."

Silver glared downwards. "So Nega was heading downwards towards the treasure… No wonder we didn't see him up top."

"What happened to the treasure?" Blaze asked.

"Right 'ere, mate!" Marine whipped out the Jeweled Scepter, "Taa daa! Found it and rescued it myself!"

Blaze took a hold of it and nodded her appreciation. "Thank you. And what of the Sol Emeralds?"

The excitement fizzled out all too quick in Marine. "Er, uh… about them…"

Sonic could see in Blaze's face a mixture of fear and anger, so he stepped in. "We're sorry, Blaze," he interjected, "We tried, but Nega took the whole place down. We barely had moments to use Chaos Control to escape."

Somehow that coming from him seemed to calm her down. Her face eased and she sighed. "Well, I know you wouldn't have purposely left them behind. At least you were able to save the scepter." She turned, looking at the now destroyed mountain. "And Nega was buried in that wreckage along with them… I know he won't be an issue anytime soon…"

Silver crossed his arms. "Call me naïve, but I won't believe Eggman Nega is dead until I see a body," he said, "This wouldn't be the first time I thought Nega was gone only to be still causing trouble. I wouldn't have traveled dimensions if I thought he was really gone for good."

Blaze lowered her head. "Good point," she replied, "Once the dust settles, I'll send a crew back here to search for both the emeralds and a body…"

Marine clutched at her arms, looking rather disturbed. "You all right?" Sonic asked.

The raccoon nodded. "I just kinda feel bad for the bloke…" she muttered, "I know he was bad apples, but… what a way to go…"

Silver twitched his nose. "You wouldn't feel the same way if you grew up in the world I did…"

"Let's get back to the ship and go back to the castle," Blaze said walking ahead to where the ship was parked, "We won't have to dwell on this if we're not here any longer."

"Sounds like a plan," said Sonic as he followed, with Silver and Marine not far behind.

* * *

Once they were back at the castle, the first thing Blaze did was order a maintenance crew to the Northern App Mountains to clean up and retrieve the Sol Emeralds, as well as confirm Eggman Nega's death. With such a large mountain, it would go long overnight before something was found…

It wasn't much longer until Knuckles and Shadow's teams returned to the castle as well. It turned out, as Blaze suspected, the other three locations were decoys to try and divert from Nega attacking the safe hold and trying to steal the treasures. They were brought up to speed about what happened at the mountains.

Since nothing major was going to happen until tomorrow, Sonic decided to hit the hay. He entered the guest room that you was sharing with Tails, and saw that he was already in bed, fast asleep. Whatever he went through, it must have really exhausted him. The little fox was out like a light. Sonic wouldn't have minded having a little buddy-chat with him before bed, but he was tired as well, so he climbed into bed and soon fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Blaze treated everyone with an extravagant breakfast; ham, sausage, eggs, biscuits, pancakes, fruit, the works!

"I hope you don't think I'm over-doing it," Blaze explained sheepishly, "I just don't often have company for meals."

"You really don't need to try this hard, Blaze," Sonic grinned, "We love you regardless."

Blaze chuckled at his humor. Amy apparently took him seriously and shot him a murderous look.

Once breakfast was over, the team was energized to take on the day. They all gathered on an airship and made your way back to the Northern App Mountains. By the time they arrived, the mountain had been mostly clear, and there was a massive hole in its place.

A member of the crew arrived to greet you as you all approach. He bowed to Blaze. "Your highness."

"Status report," Blaze quickly demanded.

"We worked hard and all night, and as a result, what remains of the Northern App Mountains is roughly 85% cleared."

"The Sol Emeralds?"

The crew member twitched his nose and lowered his head. "We haven't located them yet."

"What do you mean you haven't located them?" Blaze pointed down the hole, "This area is where the safe hold was located fifteen-hundred feet below! You should have come across them by now!"

"We're still searching, Princess," said the member, "Hopefully they'll turn up soon…"

"And Eggman Nega..?"

The member sighed and shook his head.

"So he's…"

"Missing as well."

"Missing?!" Blaze clenched her fists as fire nearly erupted from her body, "The Sol Emeralds are one thing, but surely Eggman Nega's body would have been easier to find. You can't exactly miss that."

"We've combed the entire lower level," the member replied, "The safe deposit that held the emeralds is destroyed, but the emeralds are nowhere to be found. And furthermore…. The remains of his robot Egg Pawns were sprawled everywhere… but that drill of his is gone!"

"The drill?!" Blaze ran to the edge of the hole and peered down. The others came up to join her. It was a deep drop, but Sonic could just barely make out some other crew members wandering around, and scattered robot parts…. Oddly enough, there was no drill.

"Ain't it obvious?" Marine piped in, "He drilled away out the mountain before the whole place fell on top of him!"

"Except there are no signs of escape," said the member.

"Sonic, you said you escaped using one of the Chaos Emeralds and 'Chaos Control', correct?" Blaze asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. But I have all the emeralds. There's no way Nega could do the same…"

"Unless he still has those fake Chaos Emeralds he made before," Knuckles bought up.

Shadow crossed his arms and scoffed. "Those inferior qualities? I doubt it…"

"He did it before," Rouge murmured.

"All I know is that Nega still might be out there!" Silver shouted, "So now we're back to square one."

"Except if Nega DID escape miraculously, he has the Sol Emeralds with him!" Blaze growled, "So finding him is more imperative! So let's go!" She turned and made her way back to the airship, with everyone following suit.

As they flew through the air back to the castle, Blaze grabbed Sonic's attention. "You know, Sonic..."

Amy hooks her arm through his rather defensively.

"Silver mentioned that he's from your world's future timeline," Blaze continued, "A world that was ravaged when Eggman's empire took control the moment you and your friends left."

At that, Amy eased up and loosened her grip. Sonic rolled his eyes at her.

"Anyway," Blaze said, "Perhaps we could make some good come from this while we can. I may not have the Sol Emeralds, but with the Chaos Emeralds AND the Jeweled Scepter, I could be able to send you and your team back to your timeline. At the very least, you could stop Eggman before he starts any major damage."

"But what about your world?" Tails asked, "Nega's still running around, up to no good."

"I won't be going anywhere until I know Nega is taken down for good," said Silver, "So I'll definitely be here to help Blaze." He turned to you. "Though she raises a good point. Perhaps maybe you should go back while you can, and save my timeline."

"I do miss Cream and the others," Amy murmured, "What if we don't get another chance to return?"

"I personally don't like the idea of leaving things unfinished," said Knuckles, "But, it's your call, Sonic…"

Sonic shook his head 'no'. "Uh-uh!" he said, "We started this thing together, and that's how we're going to finish it!"

"Took the words out of my mouth, big blue," Rouge smiled at you.

"I would've personally called you a coward if you decided otherwise," Shadow muttered.

Tails looked over to Blaze. "Looks like we're all sticking around to help."

Blaze nodded. "I appreciate it, actually," she replied, "I don't know how I'd be able to do all this without you. I only offered because it seemed right."

"You never need to feel guilty for asking for our help!" Amy grinned, "We're your friends, remember?"

Blaze smiled and nodded. "You're right. I'm still learning a lot about having friends, it seems."

She raised her head. "The moment we return to the castle, we'll be gathering for another briefing. So be ready!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There_would_have been options to either choose to go with Knuckles' team or Shadow's team, but I never got around to writing those parts (that's where I started hitting my slump...) so I'm afraid I won't be able to show what would have happened if you went with one of those options....


	12. Another Encounter with Nega

As Blaze promised, a meeting was held the moment everyone had returned to her castle in Solstice Kingdom. Once they arrived, they were ushered to the War Room, where Gardon quickly fills them in with the latest details.

"According to the Sky Babylon post," he reported, "We have a confirmed Badnik sighting at the Coral Cave."

Blaze crossed her arms, looking skeptical. "Why would Eggman Nega go there?" she wondered out loud, "He knows that isn't where we hold the Jeweled Scepter anymore."

"Maybe he's just trying to find a place to hide?" Amy suggested with a shrug.

Marine clenched her fists. "If that's the case, let's lob in and take 'im out when he least expects!"

Shadow smirked. "That's the best thing I've heard from you yet, kid."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Silver warned, "If I know Nega, he may be heading down there to set up a trap."

"Or it could be a divine opportunity to strike him hard," said Shadow, "If you're so worried, then I'll go down and check it out for you."

Silver twitched his nose. "I'm not worried!" he grunted, "I'll go too. I'll have your back in case it is a trap."

"And if it isn't?"

Silver gave a smirk of his own. "Then I'd love to throw him off guard and take him out."

"Any other possibilities?" Blaze asked Gardon.

The koala looked a little uneasy. "Well… It's unconfirmed, but there was word of a possible Nega sighting at Plantos Kingdom."

Sonic noticed a distinguishable shiver run down Blaze's backside. "How do you know it to be true..?" she mumbled.

"Well… we don't," Gardon replied, "It could be a simple hoax. But I wouldn't advise ignoring it."

"I suppose not," Blaze sighed, but then glanced over at Amy, "If I send some soldiers with you, would you mind going over to check it out?"

"Of course not!" Amy chimed, "I would love to check out another kingdom!"

"Me too," Rouge smirked, "I'm interested in what… 'archives' they may have…" She looked up at her big robot companion, "You'll stick by our side, won't you Omega?"

"Affirmative," Omega replied.

"Oy, Blaze!" Marine piped up, "With Nega bein' just about anywhere, y'think ya wanna come with me to check on my oldies back on Southern Island?"

"Sure thing," Blaze quickly replied.

"But Princess, what about Plantos?" Gardon asked.

"Amy, Rouge, and Omega have it covered," Blaze snapped, "Everyone else pair up. Marine and I will head back south. Shadow and Silver will lead a team to the east at Coral Cave."

Sonic decided to go to Southern Island with Blaze, Marine, and Tails.*

It felt just like old times, traveling on the Ocean Tornado through the seas of Blaze's world. And heading back to Southern Island at that too, where it had all began initially…

Sheila and Irwin were happy to have their little 'sea pup' return, but didn't hide their disappointment when Marine told them she was only checking in on them before having to head back out. Sonic asked them if they had seen any signs of Eggman Nega, or even some of his robots. They had not.

In fact, nobody in the entire village had seen him or anything.

"I've seen 'im!" a drunken kangaroo staggered over and nearly toppled onto Blaze. She disgustingly tossed him off, letting him fall to the ground.

"Where?" Tails asked, bending down towards him to get an answer. It didn't do any good, as the kangaroo slipped into a drunken slumber.

"Aw, he ain't no good," Marine grumbled, "Town drunk also serves as the town galah. Anything outta his mouth is rubbish."

"Well, Gardon said it himself," said Blaze, "It's not wise to not check into something even if it may be fake."

"But nobody saw anything," said Tails, "Do we want to keep looking around? What if we're wrong? We could be missing Nega…"

Blaze glanced up at Sonic. "What do you think, Sonic?"

"Well, we haven't covered the ENTIRE island," he suggested, "We've only covered Windmill Village. We didn't hit the beach, or the fields, or…"

"Or that there volcano?" Marine pointed off in the distance.

"Volcano..?" Sonic looked over, "Why there?"

Tails perked up suddenly. "I get it!" he chimed, "That's the volcano where I stored the Magma Hurricane! Remember? To get down to the Deep Core?"

Blaze's head raised with interest. "That's right!" she said, "Where the Power of the Stars is located! Is he really going to try that old plan again? He doesn't even have the Jeweled Scepter!"

"But he DOES have the Sol Emeralds," Sonic reminded her, "And they're capable of dimensional travel too. Maybe he has some other scheme in mind!"

"Well we won't know for sure if we're just standing here chattering," said Blaze and she already races ahead. "Come on!"

The rest followed as you hurry to the volcano.

* * *

"Wow, you guys really kept this in great shape!" Tails chimed as Sonic and Blaze ripped the cover off the Magma Hurricane.

"Sure thing!" said Marine, "This 'ere trolley of yours is most grouse! No way were we lettin' it rust in this volcano!"

"Just in case we MIGHT had to of returned to Deep Core," said Blaze.

"In that case," Tails nodded, "Saddle in! We're heading to the center of the world once again!"

* * *

Just like last time, it felt like a never ending trip to the core of the planet, also known as Deep Core. However, since the group all had previously drilled through before, the trip was a little quicker as they didn't need to break through all sorts of earth to get to your destination.

Finally, about a bit of a travel, they made it back to the Deep Core. Magma rushed past them on each side as they rushed down the same narrow rocky pathway that led to the pedestal which served as the "keyhole" for the Power of the Stars.

And it was like Déjà vu. There was Eggman Nega, hovering in a robot that closely resembled the original Egg Wizard over the pedestal. Only above the pedestal wasn't the Power of the Stars, but a blue, spinning vortex which was surrounded by fourteen gems…

Fourteen…?

Seven Sol Emeralds…

And seven CHAOS Emeralds?!

Tails, Blaze, and Marine noticed this too and are just as shocked. "The Chaos Emeralds?!" Tails cried, "But… HOW?! I thought you left them behind at Blaze's castle!"

"NEGA!" Blaze screamed, "How did you get the Chaos Emeralds?!"

The Egg Wizard II spun around to face the group. In its small cockpit, Soni could make out the grinning figure of Eggman Nega.

"Oh ho ho ho!" he laughed through an amplified speaker, "What do I need to steal them for, when I have my very OWN copy?"

Sonic wondered to himself how Nega was able to hear what Blaze was saying from all the way down here…?

… But then realized exactly what he had just said. "COPY?!" he cried.

"It may have been years for me, Sonic," Nega sneered, "But for you it's only been a mere few days. You couldn't have possibly forgotten already what I did back in our Chaos Dimension, could you?"

"But they got busted..!"

"I've been in this dimension for roughly seven years," said Nega, "It took me a while, but I was finally able to perfect my own set of Chaos Emeralds! And with it…" The Egg Wizard II motioned to the spinning vortex above, "My very own Chaos Control!"

"Chaos Control?" It all registered in Sonic's brain now, "So THAT'S how you escaped the mountain collapse!"

Blaze was enraged. You can tell by the way she formed a massive fireball in her palms and hurled it at the Egg Wizard II. It bounced off like a rubber ball, and disintegrated in the magma.

"Oh ho ho!" Nega chimed, "I guess I forgot to mention using the Sol Emeralds' powers gave me the ability to shield my new robot armor."

Blaze seethed, and Sonic noticed her clenched fist shaking in rage. "Easy, Blaze," he told her, "Keep it together."

"It's different this time," Blaze growled, "He has the emeralds, and the means to achieve his goal."

"We'll find a way to stop him," Sonic told her, "As long as we're still standing, we have a chance."

"But this may be too much for us…!"

"Then we call in the cavalry," Sonic then turned to Tails, "Get back to the surface and call the others. Tell them to hurry the hell to Southern Island and Deep Core!"

Tails nodded. He turned away, twisted his tails, and headed back to the Magma Hurricane.

"Oh no you DON'T!" Nega screamed, as the Egg Wizard II raised up higher. It held out its palm and shot an energy ball near Tails. Sonic quickly rushed in, grabbed one of his tails, and yanked him back before he is struck. The pathway crumbled and magma rushed past.

"Not ONE of you are leaving this place alive!" Nega boomed.

Blaze hunched down and then launched herself at the Egg Wizard II. "Blaze, NO!" you cried.

But all Sonic could do is watch as the Egg Wizard reared back, threw a punch…

And Blaze flipped over the fist, and made her way up its arm. The Egg Wizard tried to grab her with its other hand, but Blaze is too quick as she made it to the cockpit and did a spin kick at the robot's head.

It did no good, however. The Egg Wizard raised another fist and went in for a punch…

Only to knock itself hard. Blaze jumped off in the nick of time, and landed perfectly back on the rocky platform with the rest of them.

"Way t'go, sheila!" Marine cheered.

"Marine, it's your turn," said Blaze, "Strike it! NOW!"

"Oh! Good idea!" said Marine. She raised up both palms over her head, and a swirling ball of water formed above. "HUYAH!" she screamed, launching it at the Egg Wizard II. It struck, and the robot staggered backwards a fair amount.

Blaze nodded. "It's shielded against my fire, but NOT against Marine's water."

"Good thinking there, Blaze," Sonic smiled.

She smiled back. "I didn't forget your advice. I should always keep a level head no matter how bad things get. I owe it to my people, after all, to protect them." She then looked over to Tails, "Get out of here while you can! Call the others! Hurry!"

Tails nodded. He helicoptered up with his two tails and quickly flew back to the Magma Hurricane.

"Oy! I've got more where that came from, you mustached menace!"

Sonic whipped his head around to see Marine charging at the Egg Wizard II, just as it was righting itself up.

"Marine, STOP!" Blaze cried out.

But the little raccoon had already leaped off the stony platform and formed another water-based attack in her fist. She slammed into Nega with the force of a typhoon, knocking them both over sideways. Sonic feared she may have fallen into the magma along with the Egg Wizard.

"No! MARINE!" Blaze screamed as she and Sonic rushed over to the side of the platform and looked over. There were no sign of either Marine or the Egg Wizard II. Blaze dropped to her knees in despair, as Sonic's own heart dropped to the pit of his stomach, fearing the young raccoon girl had met her demise…

And they nearly fell backwards in shock as the Egg Wizard II suddenly surfaced from the magma and stared them down, holding its balled hands in the center.

"Not much of a teacher, are you Blaze?" Nega's voice rang out, "You may have trained the brat how to control her powers, but you did nothing to handle her brashness."

Blaze seethed her teeth violently, and Sonic even noticed the edge of her fur sticking up. "You… BASTARD!" she screamed, "You'll pay for all of this! I swear you'll BURN for Marine's death!"

"Oh will I now?" Nega moved the Wizard's top hand from the bottom, and revealed none other than Marine herself, wedged tightly in the robot's fist.

"Marine!" Sonic cried out, "You're alive!"

Marine tried to answer, but the fist squeezed her tightly.

"Oh no worries, she's fine," Nega sneered, "How long she STAYS that way is entirely up to you!"

Blaze's body shook in anger, but she remained in place. "… What do you want, Nega?"

"You KNOW what I want, Blaze," Nega droned, "The only thing standing in my way, as always, is you… But the only thing keeping your friend safe is ME."

"I'll ask again- _What do you want_?"

"The Jeweled Scepter, you fool!" Nega roared, "I already have the emeralds to control time and space, but now I need to harness the Power of the Stars and take control of ALL existence! This world, Sonic's world, and any and every other dimension in the cosmos!"

"Thanks for the heads up," Sonic snarked, "Too bad we don't have the scepter on us."

"Oh you don't, do you?" Nega raised Marine higher and squeezed tighter.

"Stop it!" Blaze cried, "Let her go!"

"I will, as soon as you stop playing around and give me that scepter!"

"Sonic's telling the truth! We don't have it on us!"

"If that is indeed true, surely you'll go out of your way to make sure it gets to me," Nega glared down at the two, "So where is it? Or do you not care if this girl dies?"

Blaze growled. Sonic could tell she was trying to think of something, but with Marine's life at stake, she didn't want to seem to play "Guardian of the Scepter" right now… But he know all too well that she wasnot ready to easily hand over all of existence to this madman of an Eggman-descendant.

He took a step forward. "Okay, Egg-Neg," he called up, "You win. We'll tell you where the scepter's at."

Blaze glared at him in shock. "Sonic!"

"Chill, kitty, I got this," he quickly replied. Blaze was severely irked by the answer, since he had never spoken to her like that before. But she seemed to get it, and let him continue. "You remember where Mount Blizzard's at, near the North Pole in Blizzard Peaks?"

Nega slowly nodded. "Go on…" he mused.

"There's a cave at the base of the mountain," Sonic said, "Kinda like the Northern App Mountains, only snow-covered. You gotta dig your way through, though. We purposely caused an avalanche to keep your oily mitts from entering."

"Hmm…" Nega stroked his white mustache, then grinned maliciously. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Harder than you can imagine," Blaze grumbled, "Now let Marine go!"

"Oh if it were that easy," Nega chuckled, "For all I know, you could be giving me false information just to save your friend and think up a quick plan B to stop my scheme! We can't have that now, can we?" He threateningly covers the Wizard's hand with the other, as if ready to give Marine the final squeeze.

Sonic tightened his look. "Stop it!" he screamed, "You wanted the location, we gave it to you!"

"Okay, I'm a fair man," Nega laughed, "I won't kill her… if what you say is in fact true." Sonic watched him fiddle with his console. The speakers were still on, and they could hear him call out, "E-Ten-Kay Armageddon! Abort your mission, and go straight to Mount Blizzard in the North Pole. Search and retrieve the Jeweled Scepter! Contact me immediately if you are unable to locate it."

Blaze tightened her fists. Sonic remained still. Now they were really gambling with Marine's life here…

Nega glared down at them viciously. "I sure hope the Jeweled Scepter is there… It would be quite a shame to find out that you were lying. Well, a shame for little Miss Marine here… You're certain the scepter is at Mount Blizzard?"

Blaze looked over at Sonic with concern. He quickly brainstormed, figuring they may have time to think up a new strategy without putting the Jeweled Scepter itself at risk. Then again, if they kept telling Nega lies, they might accidentally dig themselves in too deep a hole that they couldn't climb out of…

Sonic remained still, casting a quick glance at Blaze. She gave a quick, small nod, then returned her attention to Nega above. "It's there, Nega," she replied coolly, "Trust us."

Nega twitched his nose in discontent, but remained where he was. He eventually even drummed his fingers on the console.

Blaze glanced back at Sonic. He wished he could say something, but that definitely wasn't a good idea in front of Nega. He'd definitely suspect foul play in an instant.

Sonic had always hated waiting, but right now it was worse than ever as he was forced to remain still and say nothing as Marine's fate was literally in the hands of Nega's Egg Wizard II.

"ARMAGEDDON!" Nega suddenly screamed, "What's the status?!"

The two braced themselves, ready for the inevitable, 'No Sign Of The Jeweled Scepter.'

But oddly enough, Nega was only treated to silence.

He growled furiously and turned back down to the two. "What happened?! Where's E-10K?!"

Sonic shrugged innocently. "How should we know? We were down here the whole time."

Nega shook with raging impatience. "I've waited long enough!" he screamed, "You should've better cooperated! Too bad Marine has to pay for your follies!"

"No!" Blaze cried as the Egg Wizard pulled back and wrapped both hands tightly around the raccoon…

***BLAM BLAM RATTA RATTA TAT TAT BOOM!***

Out of nowhere, the Egg Wizard II became bombarded with firepower galore. It staggered back once more, and as a result, Marine was dropped and headed straight for the magma below…

Only to be caught by a blue force and pulled back to the platform. "OY!" she screamed with delight, "I recognize this flying power! Silver!"

Everyone turned around to see. Sure enough, the cavalry had arrived! Omega dropped down after shooting a massive array of gunfire and missile shots, and Silver had caught Marine with his powers at the last possible second. Not to mention Shadow, Rouge, Knuckles, Shade, Tails, and Amy weren't far behind.

"Nice going, Tails!" Sonic grinned, flashing a thumbs up, "Now THIS is what I call back up!"

Knuckles smacked his fists together. "You didn't think you were going up against this creep without us, did you?"

"By all means," Sonic replied, "I think it's going to take all of us to go against this thing!"

"I'm not alone..!" Nega growled, "I took the liberty of calling reinforcements of my own… They should be arriving right about now…"

And as on cue, the entrance was swarmed with Egg Pawns and Heavy Hammers. Sonic stared them down with confidence. They looked similar to the ones from Silver's timeline, but didn't nearly look as strong. After all, Nega lost a LOT of his resources after falling into this dimension. This'll be just like fighting the old Eggman.

"ATTACK!" Nega ordered. The team was swarmed with an army of robots.

But there were eleven members in the part party, who were more than strong enough to hold their own, and then some. Sonic had his standard spin attacks and basic action moves. Tails was able to lend a hand by whacking his two tails into bots and knocking them off balance. Amy had her trusty hammer to get the job done. Knuckles took on the bigger Heavy Hammers, and was able to take them down with ease with his punches. Rouge was just as strong and capable, only with her powerful legs and kicks. Shadow threw a few chaos-based attacks like the Chaos Spears. Omega went to town with his built in guns. Shade used her powerful Leech Blades against her opponents. Silver used his psychokinesis to attack the bots. Blaze threw her fire around. And finally, Marine used her newfound water powers.

Occasionally, they would do a few team up attacks, such as Sonic and Shadow creating a whirlwind vortex and leaving the bots unguarded for others to strike down. Knuckles and Shade pulled off their Echidna Rush on the tougher Heavy Hammers. And even Silver, Blaze, and Marine combined their powers to pull off a massive elemental-psychic attack.

"Don't let Nega get away!" Blaze shouted. Sonic turned quickly to see the Egg Wizard II making a bee-line to where the entrance was. He tried to give chase, but Heavy Hammers block his way, and he was forced to deal with them first.

The familiar rapid gunfire rangout nearby, and Sonic saw Omega striking the Egg Wizard with his machine gunners, hitting Nega's vessel hard, but not taking it down just yet…

_"Chaos BLAST!"_

A massive chaotic orb launched at the Egg Wizard, sending it crashing into the entrance. Everything around it collapsed. Deep Core shook violently. Everyone struggled to stay on their feet, including the Pawns and the Hammers. Sonic took this opportunity to do Homing Attack into each one while their guards were down, and send every last one of them boiling into the magma.

"Smooth move, Shadow," Rouge grunted.

"Got the job done, didn't it?" Shadow responded.

"RAAAIIIGGGH!" the booming scream filled the entire core as the Egg Wizard II burst from the collapsed entrance. Only now it looked as if it went through a major upgrade.

"Uh, I'm going to have to say 'not quite'," Sonic murmured.

"No way..!" Knuckles spoke lowly, "He… he got STRONGER! Like he super-charged that flying robot of his!"

"He has his own set of Chaos Emeralds!" Tails pointed out, "He must've used them to give his Egg Wizard a transformation!"

"I'm not tech-savvy," Knuckles replied, "But I'm pretty sure that's not how upgrades work!"

"Well, guess what!" Shade spat, powering her blades, "That's just what's happening!"

The Super Egg Wizard II (or SEW2 as Sonic decided just now to refer it as) clenched its fist and stormed at the group, ready to land a punch. They all just barely missed getting crushed by the amplified power punch, and it instead struck the platform. It cracked dangerously, falling apart and the cracks reaching everyone where they stod and breaking the platform apart. The heroes scrambled to fly or jump to higher ground. Nega was on top of them, however, and struck at whomever he found. Rouge was unlucky enough to get caught in a swinging fist, and was torpedoed below to the magma, but Knuckles was quick in gliding down and catching her in the nick of time.

_'Aww, how sweet…'_ Sonic swooned to himself, before shaking his head clear,_ 'No wait, ship later! Keep safe NOW!'_

"You're all persistent little bugs, I'll give you that!" Nega snarled, "But I don't have time to waste such power on you nothings! My destiny awaits, as do your fates! Farewell!"

The SEW2 began to glow brightly as an energy field surrounded it. "What's going on?" Amy cried.

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "He's performing another Chaos Control!"

Sonic could feel the temperature rising drastically. "Then why's it getting hotter?"

"It's not just a Chaos Control!" Blaze shouted, "He's using it through both the Chaos and Sol Emeralds! He's escaping WHILE attacking!" She suddenly grew a more determined look. "Everyone drop to the center, NOW!"

Holding Marine closely, she leaped off the stalagmite she was holding onto and headed towards the magma below.

Everyone gasped at her apparent suicide jump, but Sonic was quick to understand, and more importantly, trust her. "Come on, everyone!" he shouted as he grabbed Tails close to him, "Trust me on this! GO!"

He too leaped off the narrow piece of rock he had managed to jump on earlier, taking Tails with him. He heard the others jumping off as well, and knew they were close behind. Just as they were all are about to hit the magma, a fire shield surrounded them. They landed in the magma, but were unharmed, if only a little burnt.

But they were far from out of danger. The attack was causing all of Deep Core to collapse. The magma may not have kill them, but being crushed by the planet's falling core definitely would…

_"Chaos Control!"_

They were all surrounded by another blinding flash, and the next thing they know, they were back outside close by the Deep Core entrance near the volcano.

Once they were all back on their feet, Shadow collapsed forward. Sonic and Rouge quickly rushed to each side of him. "Shadow, are you alright?" Rouge asked with worry.

The black hedgehog gave a low grunt, then slowly stirred. "If we're out and alive, then yes…"

Sonic couldn't help but smirk. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who almost passes out when doing a Chaos Control."

Shadow turned over to glare at you. "You try warping a large group of people from the center of the world using only your raw chaos powers."

"Gotcha… I'll have to try that next time."

Suddenly, the ground all over shook violently. "What's happening?!" Amy cried.

"An earthquake, obviously!" Knuckles responded.

"No, worse!" Shade shouted, pointing above, "Look!"

They all looked up to see dark smoke rising above from the volcano.

"It's gonna blow!" Silver shouted.

"This may have to do with Deep Core being destroyed!" Blaze shouted, "Let's get out of here!"

"Windmill Village ain't far from here!" Marine cried "We gotta warn everyone!"

"All right, everyone with speed, keep up with me! Let's go!" Sonic ordered as he shot ahead. Shadow, Blaze, and Amy rushed off to follow.

It had been over a year since he were in Blaze's world, but Sonic remembered the way all too well. It wasn't long before he made it to Windmill Village, where he found a few villagers looking to the sky with worry. The active volcano was clearly visible, even from a distance.

"Listen up, everyone!" Sonic ordered, "Grab what you can and get out of here! That volcano's about to blow!"

At that, everyone began screaming and rushing in different directions.

"Nice going, Sonic," Amy grunted, "Way to worry the crowd."

"We don't have time to be nice," Sonic replied, "We gotta get everyone outta here!"

Blaze leaped up onto the roof of a person's nearby cottage. "Everybody!" she shouted through cupped hands, "Calm down! We need order and cooperation if we're all going to survive! Make your way to the docks, and board onto the Ocean Tornado. Those of you already with boats, please use those instead and take as many other people as you can!"

"We're gonna die, we're gonna die!" the panicked villagers cried out. They scrambled into their homes, some coming back out with everything including the kitchen sink. Others slammed into each other and even purposely knocked themselves out to get to safety.

"Hey!" Amy shouted, "Everyone has to work together! Please calm down!"

Unfortunately, that did no good, and everyone kept panicking like headless chickens.

Shadow groaned…. Then suddenly jumped high into the air, using his air shoes to hover.

_ **"QUIIIEEET!"** _

The entire village froze up at the booming voice that was almost equivalent to an angry god. Even Sonic was frightened and impressed… He never knew Shadow was capable of having such lung capacity.

"Listen up!" Shadow shouted, though not as loud as before obviously, "Unless you want to die like mindless idiots, you're going to focus and cooperate! Now, as Sonic said a moment ago, ONLY bring the necessities! Try to bring anything you don't really need, I'll personally destroy it myself! Then you will CALMLY make your way to the docks to your boats. If you do not have a boat, then Blaze will direct you onto the Ocean Tornado, or ask someone you know that does have one if you can catch a ride. Those of you with boats, take them! And offer space to others if you have enough room so that we don't overcrowd each other. Now then… MOVE IT!"

The villagers obediently walked around calmly, entering their homes and coming back out with only small bags or armfuls of what looked like important articles. Sonic didn't bother with inspection, he just wanted to get everyone to safety as soon as possible.

As Blaze led the crowds to the docks, Sonic spotted Irwin and Sheila heading his way. "Sonic!" Irwin called out, "Where's Marine? Is she all right? Why ain't she with you?"

"She's fine," he replied, "She's on her way here with the others."

"An' ya didn't think ta' bring her here WITH you?" Sheila screeched and pointed at the volcano, now spouting even darker smoke.

"We were in a rush to get back here and warn the village," he replied, "Don't worry, I'll go find the others. Yo Amy! I'll be right back!"

Amy nodded, and Sonic took off the other direction out of the village and towards the volcano. He recalled the path he took to get there and back, and sure enough, there were the others rushing towards him.

"Sonic!" Tails waved you down.

Sonic screeched to a halt in front of him. "Hey buddy!" he quickly greeted, "Come on, we gotta get going! Shadow and the others are evacuating Windmill Village as we speak, so we gotta get to the boats before they take off without us!"

***BLAM!***

The ground shook violently once more as the top of the volcano shoots lava sky high. Sonic knew it won't be long before that lava's going to strike them all.

"Okay, time to go, NOW!" He grabbed tightly onto Tails and Marine's wrists and headed off, looking back to make sure the others are close behind him. Silver is using his psychokinesis to blast through the sky while carrying Knuckles and Shade with him. Omega was on the ground behind him, using his built-in jetpacks to keep up with you, with Rouge tucked under one arm. Satisfied, Sonic turned back and shoot towards Windmill Village.

In literally a "Sonic Second", the hedgehog arrived at the village and to the docks, where villagers were loading into their boats or in the Ocean Tornado.

"Marine! Over here!" Sheila called over as Irwin started up his boat.

Marine nodded over to Tails. "You mind takin' the wheel? I'll go with my oldies, give you all some room on the Ocean Tornado."

Tails nodded, and Marine hurried to her folks in their boat. The rest boarded the Ocean Tornado, just as the lava starts creeping in towards the village. Tails took the wheel and began sailing the boat away from the docks, and away from the island.

"What's going to happen to us now..?" Muzy murmured, staring off the side of the boat at the rampaging volcano spewing more lava. What was on the ground had begun engulfing their homes.

Blaze lowered her head. "I'm so sorry about all this," she said, "You may all stay at my kingdom. We'll set up shelters for you."

"Um… is anyone else seeing this?" Amy asked aloud.

Sonic turned to see what she was pointing at. Above the volcano, along with the lava, something else was exiting out… It looked like a purplish pink energy. "What..?"

Blaze leaned over to try and get a better look. "Is that… the Power of the Stars?"

Sonic whipped his head towards her. "What? How's that possible? Nega doesn't even have the scepter! He couldn't have unlocked it!"

"Maybe he wasn't waiting for us to bring it…" Blaze wondered, "He might have already found a way to harness it without the use of it!"

"Then why go through all that trouble to get it from us anyway?"

The cat shook her head. "The Jeweled Scepter controls the powers, not just unlock it. He may have found another way to unlock the Stars, but he'll still need the scepter if he truly wishes to utilize them."

Sonic leaned forward on the side of the boat and rested his cheek in his palm. "So we just keep losing no matter what steps we take…"

Blaze glanced over at him. "Don't _you_ start giving up now, Sonic," she said, "You're the one that has to always pick _me_ up, remember?"

Sonic gave a small smirk and nod. "Yeah."

"The Jeweled Scepter is still hidden, along with the original Chaos Emeralds," said Blaze, "We just have to get back to them before Nega finds out where they are."

* * *

The return to the castle wasn't a very welcoming sight. As soon as the Ocean Tornado pulled into the docks, the crew was shocked to see the sight of smoke billowing from Blaze's castle, along with a huge chunk destroyed.

Blaze didn't even wait until the boats reached the docks before she leaped off and raced towards her home. Sonic and his group were not far behind her.

"What happened here?!" Blaze demanded as soon as they all came across the first group of soldiers.

"Princess," a lion guard replied, taking a knee, "Please forgive us… We failed you…"

"I'll ask again, Argyle," Blaze growled, "_What happened?!"_

"It was my fault, your highness," Argyle replied shakily, "Nega began attacking the castle. I gave the orders for all soldiers to give it their all, do what it takes to protect the kingdom. I take full responsibility for that.

"But though they all fought bravely, some of the soldiers bit off more than they could chew. Angie thought she could take on this tall, red robot, but its swordsman skill was far advanced, and it took her by the throat…"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes and clenches his fist. "Sounds like Armageddon…"

"Gardon tried to save her," another soldier added, "But there were a group of Egg Pawns nearby that took him by surprise… Took ALL of us by surprise."

"Nega demanded the location of the Jeweled Scepter, or he'd kill Gardon and Angie," Argyle lowered his head, "Your Highness… I had no choice."

Blaze stared in shock, but Sonic could tell the anger was rising in her. "So now Nega's on his way to get the Jeweled Scepter?"

"Most likely."

The cat spun away and stormed off. "I'll deal with you later!" she spat, "Right now, we have to get the scepter and Chaos Emeralds before Nega does! If we're lucky…"

The rest jogged after her.

"I know you didn't tell us earlier for safety reasons," Shade spoke, "But right now, it would probably be a good idea if you told us where you've hidden the Jeweled Scepter."

Blaze still had that annoyed look. She grunted and stared down in disgust. "Plantos Kingdom…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Again, there would have been options to choose to go with Shadow's team or Amy's team. But since I never got to those parts, those may not get posted...


	13. An Unfathomable Proposal

Everybody was charted on another air ship and headed east to a new location known as "Plantos Kingdom". Blaze had earlier mentioned it being a sister kingdom to her own. But she didn't go into much details after that. Sonic could tell she was quite uncomfortable even just mentioning it…

"So that's why you ordered all those 'escorts' with us," Amy remarked, "You were planting the Jeweled Scepter and the Chaos Emeralds at Plantos Kingdom."

"And we were merely your 'delivery girls'," Rouge snarked.

"Sorry about all that," said Blaze, "I figured it would be safer if you didn't know what was going on."

"No offense, sheila," Marine piped in, "But your record of what you think is safe is off the wall…"

The cat twitched her nose in annoyance. It then turned into outright anxiety once the pilot called out, "Coming in for a landing! We are now entering Plantos Kingdom…. Uh… Princess?"

"I'm really not in the mood right now…" Blaze replied.

"You should really see this, though…"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles leaned over to look out the front shield window and were shocked to see Egg Pawns and Egg-Robos stationed at every corner. Many had their guns aimed at the ship as it slowly descended towards the ground.

Sonic quickly threw off his safety belt and jumped to his feet. "Get ready, everyone!" he ordered, "Looks like we're in for a Robot Circus battle!"

"Hold it!" Silver called out, "Don't jump the gun yet, Sonic. They're not attacking us." He looked closer out the window, "They're just… sitting there."

"Waiting for us to get off so they can shoot us like dogs," Knuckles snarled.

"Take it easy," Silver replied, "If Nega wanted us shot, he'd of done it by now. Let's just go slow, and see what's going on."

Shadow slammed a fist in his palm. "Worse comes to worse, I'll take out every robot in a nano-second."

"Initiating-Surprise-Battle-Tactic," Omega droned, reverting his hand into a gun.

"No. Silver's right," Blaze spoke, "Stay on guard, but don't attack just yet."

The back hatch opened, and the group cautiously made their way out. The robots maintained their aim, but didn't shoot like Sonic would normally expect. Still, he kept protective arms in front of Tails and Amy, who walked close by him.

Blaze kept Marine safe herself as she looked around fiercely. "Okay, I know who's behind this!" she shouted, "You can come out now."

Sonic blinked at her, confused. Almost everyone else did the same. _'Who is she talking to?'_

"Ah, Princess Blaze…"

A deep and rather presumptuous sounding voice rang out. Coming from the trees hovered a platform, holding a lavender-blue male cat with a royal white suit with red trimming. He softly landed in front of Blaze and steps off. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd grace me with your loveliness again." He took her hand and brought it up to kiss it, but she quickly swiped it away.

"What's the meaning of this, Richard?" she snapped, "Why aren't Nega's robots attacking?"

"Would you rather they would?" Richard smirked.

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "You know what I mean," she seethed, "If Nega isn't doing anything to harm you, then it clearly means you're cooperating with him."

Richard chuckled. "You always were a bright young woman, my love."

Sonic violently cock an eyebrow. _'My Love?'_

"I am _not_ your love," Blaze spat, "Nor was I ever. Why are you siding with Eggman Nega? Don't you see what harm's he brought to the planet?"

"And yet my own kingdom thrives beautifully," Richard held his arms out to show.

"You realize he's only using you for your resources."

"He merely beat you to the punch, my dear. This all could've been yours too had you stuck with our betrothal."

Sonic almost fell over hearing the word 'betrothal'. This guy and Blaze were _engaged_?!

"Plans changed," Blaze sneered, "That goodness for that."

"A shame really," Richard replied, "Nega made me quite an admirable offer. I rule a huge portion of the world if I allow the use of my resources." He gave another haughty chuckle, "I may not need to marry you after all to claim your kingdom."

Amy rattled her fists is fury. "You creep!" she shouted, "And I thought you were a complete gentleman! But you don't even care if the whole world is destroyed if it means YOU get power! You're no better than Eggman Nega himself!"

Richard scoffed. "I wouldn't say that," he replies, "I AM willing to help you, you know…"

Rouge placed a hand on her hip and scowls. "How so?"

Richard looked up at Blaze lustfully. "I will transfer my resources to you, including the robots Nega so graciously offered me... IF Blaze reinstates her deal in our engagement."

Blaze looked as if she were choking on a dead rat. "You're kidding, right?!"

"I assure you I'm not," Richard narrowed his eyes at everyone, "Funny story. Nega stormed my kingdom, demanding the Jeweled Scepter. I had literally no idea what he was talking about, but he insists Blaze's soldiers hid them here, and even threatened to kill two of these poor soldiers of hers."

Blaze gave a light gasp. "Gardon and Angie..!"

"I know you care deeply for your subjects, my darling," Richard continued, "So of course I went along to keep them safe. I made a deal with Nega to use my kingdom for his needs, and I'll locate the scepter and emeralds for him."

"And have you?" Sonic asked angrily.

Richard smirked. "I know of the location," he sneered, "But he doesn't know that I know. And before you think about double crossing me, I should tell you I took the liberty of relocating them, so now NOBODY but me knows."

Blaze looked ready to blow a gasket. "Lord Richard..!"

"Blaze, my dear," said Richard, "All you have to do is say you'll marry me, and I'll save the world for you. Otherwise, the Jeweled Scepter and those pretty little gems that came with it are as good as his. You have no other options here."

"We could always kick your butt into next Tuesday!" Sonic shouted.

"Sonic, no!" Tails cried, "There's too many robots! We could be taken out too easily!"

Sonic quickly scanned the area. There were more robots than what he was used to dealing with…. But was he willing to take that chance?

As much as an epic fight against an army of robots is enticing, he decided to play it safe.

"Uno momento, por favor," he said to Richard as he took Blaze by the arm and quickly led her to the side, away from any prying ears.

"_Sonic__,"_ she whispered harshly, "Don't even THINK I'll consider marrying that creep! I don't even want to be within 500 feet of him!"

"We don't have much of a choice," Sonic told her as he hitched his thumb at the dozens and dozens of Egg Pawns and Egg-Robots all around.

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "I'll take my chances."

"With Marine in range? I doubt it."

Blaze flashed him a nasty look. But he stuck to his guns. "Richard's the only one who knows where the Jeweled Scepter and the Chaos Emeralds are hidden. We can't waste any time searching every inch of this place, especially if he's got Nega's bots keeping an eye on us. Not to mention he's got your soldiers held captive... Just go along for now until we get what we need."

Sonic placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he assured her, "I've got your back."

Blaze sighed heavily, then glared fiercely back at him. "You owe me big time for this."

"I'll keep it in mind," he said, storing that info to the deepest, darkest depths of his brain that he rarely (if ever) touched upon.

The two returned to the rest of the group. Blaze approached Richard and respectfully bowed in front of him. "Lord Richard," she spoke softly, though Sonic could hear the venom dripping from her words, "I accept your proposal."

"What?!" Marine cried, "Crikey, Blaze, what's gotten into ya?! Just a moment ago you were knockin' on this mongrel, callin' 'im a rort or some sorts. Why in th' world would ya wanna marry him outta the blue?!"

"Sometimes the situation must call for sacrifices, Marine," Blaze replied dully.

"But Blaze-!"

Sonic quickly clamped a hand over Marine's mouth. "Come on, Marine," he laugh, "Let's just be happy for the newlyweds' upcoming nuptials! So when's the big day? Are we invited? If so, can we crash at your place?"

Richard looked unamused at Sonic's long, quick stream of questions. But he waved his hand, and soon, a long trolley, driven by an Egg Pawn, drove up next to the group. "Come along," he said as he helped Blaze step up to the front seats, "Allow me to escort you to my palace. As much as I wish to marry Blaze this very moment, there IS some last minute business I must attend to."

"And what last minute business would this be?" Shade asked skeptically as she climbed onto the trolley.

Richard narrowed his eyes. "Personal business… You may stay with me for the time being."

"Let's just go on," Knuckles said quietly to her, "Maybe we can sneak around and find the emeralds." Shade nodded in response.

The Egg Pawn drove the trolley across the kingdom, ever so slowly. The speed (or lack thereof) was driving Sonic insane. He assumed it has the engine of a piddly golf-cart. Why couldn't Richard let him run the way? How hard could it be to find his castle? It was right there across the city, tall as anything….

And big. And long.

Sonic wondered if he was compensating for a lack of something else…

After what seemed like eons, they finally arrived at the front entrance of his castle. Lord Richard escorted everyone all inside, and practically bragged about everything around them.

"There's my throne room. Technically I'm not a king yet, but after I marry Blaze, that will certainly change. Oh, and here's the grand ball room. Our reception will be held there. We'll be inviting all sorts of aristocrats from all over the world. Our guest list could easily exceed ten thousand people…"

"Ten thousand…?" Silver repeated in disbelief.

"And we'll STILL have plenty of room for us all to waltz!" Richard continued proudly.

Sonic was beginning to wish they had gone against all those Egg Pawns and Egg-Robos after all…

Finally, Richard led them into a new room. It was huge, but empty. No furniture, no windows, not even carpet. Everyone looked around questioningly. "What's this room?" Tails asked.

"The detainer room," Richard replied.

Rouge glanced over. "The what…?"

"I dubbed it that myself," said Richard, "Always the last on the tour, especially if I want you all out of the way."

Sonic narrowed his eyes at that. "Excuse me?"

"Well I have to make sure you aren't double-crossing me," the wealthy cat replied, "Until I know I can trust you, I'm going to have to put you aside for now."

Richard suddenly snagged Blaze by the arm. The others were about to confront him, but were distracted when the ceiling opened up, revealing several glowing rods. Richard disappeared out the door, yanking Blaze with him. Once it shut behind them, the rods immediately sent down several volts of electricity. Sonic heard everyone scream in shock and pain, but he wasn't able to do anything to help as he blacked out...

* * *

"S… Sonic..?"

The hedgehog struggled to open his eyes. As he regained consciousness, he saw Tails staring down at him, looking rather weathered himself. He pushed himself up to his knees. "Tails, you okay..?" he asked.

Tails nodded. "That was once heck of a shocker," he replied, "It knocked us all for a loop…" he motioned to the nearby cells, "But it looks like everyone's waking up themselves."

"SONIC?!" Amy's cry could be heard down the hall, "Where are you?! Are you hurt?"

Sonic approached the cell bars. "I'm fine, Amy," he called down, "How 'bout yourself?"

"Ohhh I don't know what I would do with myself if anything ever happened to you!" Amy wailed in response.

"Yeah, you're okay," Sonic sighed.

Across from his cell, Sonic saw Shadow standing at the bars himself, studying them closely. Rouge was in there with him, slowly sitting upward while rubbing her head. Next to their cell, he could see the back of Silver, knelt on the ground. He assumed he was trying to wake whoever was in there with him.

Sonic tried to peer out between the cell bars. "Everyone else here and accounted for?"

"Is that you, Mr. Sonic?"

He couldn't see him, but he recognized that voice. "Gardon!" he called out, "So here's where Richard hid you!"

"Yes," Gardon replied, "Angie and I are both all right… We were worried nobody would find us all the way down here…"

"Thank goodness you came by," said a female voice. Sonic assumed that to be Angie. "Though, I can't help but wonder how we'll all escape now…"

"We better find a way fast!" Silver shouted as he looked behind himself to face Sonic, his face filled with fear. "Marine's in here with me, but she won't wake up. And she's breathing funny. I think something's really wrong with her!"

"You say it like that's a bad thing," Rouge snerked.

"That's not funny, Rouge!" Amy cried out, "What happened to her, Silver?" Sonic cold just barely make out her face trying to peer over, and noticed Knuckles approaching her from behind as well.

"Wait a moment," Shade spoke up from the cell next to his, "Marine's a hydro-kinetic. Water conducts electricity… so she would get the worst of that shock treatment!"

"Well then we've got to get out of these cells!" Silver shouted, "Marine definitely needs medical attention!"

Shadow glanced down the hall with suspicion. "I don't hear Omega," he said, "He's not with you, Shade?"

"No, I'm by myself in here," the female echidna replied.

Shadow grabbed at the bars with rage. "It's one thing for that stuffed-shirt piece of crap to heel turn on us," he growled, starting to shake the cell door, "But if he does anything to my friends, he's asking for a death sentence!"

_*RMBLE*_ ***CLANK!***

Shadow stopped as he notices his cell door had loosened. "You're kidding me…" he mumbled.

Tails approached their own cell door and closely examined. "It looks like Richard hasn't had many prisoners lately," he observed, "He's never bothered to update his dungeons. These cells are practically ancient."

"That or he's never counted on having abnormally strong prisoners like us!" Knuckles said.

"Lucky you…" Gardon mumbled.

"All I know is that these cells clearly can't hold us back!" Shadow shouted, rearing back and kicking his door with all his might. The force of the kick didn't just bust it open, it literally FLUNG the door off its hinges and slammed into the doors across.

Sonic quickly pushed Tails out of the way and hovered over him against the wall before either of them were struck. The force of the hit slammed their cell's doors off the hinges itself, and they both crashed into the wall in the back. "Thanks Shadow," Sonic grumbled, "But how about giving us a little warning next time? Y'know, so you don't kill us…"

As soon as they stepped out of their cells, the others quickly followed suit, destroying their own flimsy doors with ease. Amy hopped out the cell she shared with Knuckles, and pulled out her hammer. "Stand back!" she ordered as she reared back and slammed her Piko Hammer into Gardon and Angie's cells, freeing them.

Everyone gather up, Silver approaching with Marine in his arms. "How she doing?" Sonic asked.

"Not so good," Silver replied with a worried tone, "She just started doing these strange muscle spasms. I know we have to help Blaze, but I think we need to get help for Marine first and foremost."

Angie nodded. "We can help. We'll lead you to where the Medical Wing is."

"We are not going ANYWHERE without Omega!" Shadow hissed, "I almost lost him once. I will NOT allow that to happen again!"

"HellOOO!" Amy fumed, "Greedy, jerk-face Lord of Plantos Kingdom is forcing Blaze to marry him and is gonna help Nega take over the world, or even all of existence! THAT should be our top priority!"

"Agreed!" Gardon grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Marine needs a doctor!" Silver harshly reminded them, "THAT comes first!"

"GUYS!" Sonic shouted, "We're not gonna get ANYTHING done if we start shouting matches! There's enough of us to go around. Shadow, take Rouge and go find Omega. Silver, Angie, take Marine to the Medical Wing. Everyone else, let's go! We'll find Richard and squash the living daylights out of him!"

"I'll go with Silver," Shade offered, "If worse comes to worse, I could do what healing factors I've learned while training with the Nocturne clan."

"Any other takers?" Shadow asked as Rouge joined his side. He eyed Sonic, as if requesting his assistance (not that he'd ever ask out loud).

Sonic looked over to Silver, and couldn't help but be concerned for Marine as well. But he also wanted nothing more than to find Richard and put that jerk in his place… He DID promise Blaze that he'd watch her back, after all.

...

Sonic nodded towards Shadow. "No need to ask," he smirked, "I'll help."

Shadow twitched his nose in annoyance. Somehow, though, Sonic could tell he was appreciative of the offer.

"I'll come too," Tails stepped up to Sonic's side, "I have a feeling you might need my expertise in machinery in case something happened to Omega."

"Thanks," said Shadow, "Hopefully that won't be the case. Let's go!"

Shadow took off ahead of them down the dungeons. Sonic, Tails, and Rouge quickly followed, leaving everyone else to take different directions to their destinations.

Although enormous, the dungeons proved to be empty… and rather useless. Dust and cobwebs had gathered all over the stone floors and walls. Tails even sneezed a few times from all the aged particle matter floating around.

"All these dungeon cells, and not one of them with Omega inside," Rouge sighed as they all rushed through the dungeon area.

"Richard must not have imprisoned him," Shadow noted, "He could be using him for something else."

"He did like having all that control over Nega's robots," Tails murmured.

"Then maybe we shouldn't look in the dungeons!" Rouge called from behind. The other three stopped and looked back, seeing that Rouge had slowed down to a halt, pointing down a different hallway. As they approached her, they saw that the hall led down a spiraling flight of steps.

"Ladies first," Sonic smirked, motioning her to lead the way. The bat nodded and took off down the steps, the boys following her.

The steps were narrow as they descended. But after a moment, the room began to open up…

And they were overlooking a laboratory of some sorts. There were several large machines running on each side of the room. A stout, light-blue robot played around with the controls on a computer that was attached to one of the machines. In the center stood a long table, covered with a white sheet. Sonic could see some movement underneath, then a tall, slender pink robot emerged from under the sheet.

"Subject is hooked up and ready for programming," the pink robot said in a girly voice, "I can't wait! He's so handsome! And I'm sure he's a real animal in the battlefield!"

"C'mon, Tink," the blue robot spat, his voice male but high and nasally, "You say that about every robot with a gun. But you never say things like that to me…"

"'Cause you don't have a gun!" Tink replied, "Plus you're pretty short, Gage."

"Jeez, rub it in my face, why don't you…"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "We don't have time to watch such nonsense," he quietly muttered.

"Hold up," Sonic said, taking hold of his arm before he took off, "Let's just see what this project of theirs is…"

"Forget this circus, Sonic! We need to find Omega!"

"How do we know this isn't something dangerous?" Tails said, "Sonic's right, we should see what this is first."

"I admire your tenacity, boys," said Rouge, "But I'm with Shadow. No need to stop for a side show. I want to keep finding Omega."

Sonic remained adamant and shook his head no. "This probably won't take long," he told them, "Let's see what it is. If it seems harmless, we'll leave. Otherwise if it's dangerous, we stop it."

Shadow gritted his teeth, but conceded. "Fine…"

"Okay, Tink!" the smaller robot, Gage, ordered, "Unveil the product!"

Tink grabbed the sheet and ripped it off the table, revealing-

_"OMEGA!"_

Shadow's sudden shout unfortunately grabbed the attention of the two robots below. Tink gave an ear-piercing shriek. "Oh noo!" she shouted, "Our baby's in danger!"

Shadow stood tall. "Your BABY is my friend!" he growled as a ball of chaos energy formed in his palm, "And if you harm him, I'll melt away every inch of your metal-plated hides!"

"Oh dear," Gage muttered, "Lord Richard won't be pleased that this giant robot won't be turned over to his side… But it's a good thing he has an army of robot guards that can protect us!"

Gage then slammed his robotic palm on a big red button on the console. In a flash, Shadow zipped down and struck Gage to the ground with a kick. Tink screamed and hid under the table. Shadow then picked up Gage, holding him over his head. "You'll pay for what you were about to do!" he shouted.

***BZZZRAP!***

"GAH!" Shadow was struck by a laser gun, which threw him towards the wall and dropping Gage in the process.

"Shadow!" Sonic cried as he, Rouge, and Tails jumped down and rushed to him. The hedgehog laid on his side, but slowly got up with ease. "Whoa, you're actually okay?"

"I'm the Ultimate Lifeform," he grunted, "It'll take more than a shot to the body to keep me down…"

Rouge looked around the room, worriedly. "Hopefully not a whole squadron of shots," she murmured. Sonic took a look for yourself, and saw armies of Egg Pawns and Egg Robos filling the room.

Just as gunfire and laser shots could ring out, the four jumped in different directions, managing to evade every blast. Sonic kept an eye on Tails, seeing that he was making his way towards the console. Gage tried to grab him, but the fox easily knocked him away with a quick tail-whip. He then got to work tapping away at the console as Gage was caught in the crossfire of gun blasts.

"Everyone cover Tails!" Sonic shouted as he released Homing Attacks on every bot nearby his best friend, allowing him to work.

Shadow and Rouge followed suit. Shadow was just as quick to take out a line of Badniks, and Rouge didn't do too badly herself, knocking out a huge chunk of security with her mighty kicks.

It didn't take long at all before all the robots were taken out of commission…

_"Aaahh!"_

Except one!

"Tails!" Sonic cried, twisting around and seeing Tink had come out of her hiding spot and grabbed the fox around his neck with her steeled arm.

"I don't care how fast you are!" she whined, "One step and I crush his windpipe!"

Sonic hated to admit it, but she may have had a point… He stayed deathly still, along with Rouge and Shadow. "Let him go..!" he snarled.

"Why should I?" Tink snapped, "You hurt the love of my life!"

"Which one of those robot rejects was your love?" Rouge asked.

"I'm talking about Gage!" the pink robot shrieked, "I was always mean to him and kept eyeballing every other handsome bot, but once I lost him, I realized just how much he meant to me! Now I have to wait until Omega is online before I find true love again!"

"Okay, lady, get real," Sonic growled, "Gage is a robot. You can rebuild him. But you hurt my friend, and I'll destroy you to the point of no return!"

"If you destroy me, I'll destroy your friend!" Tink shouted as she pressed harder on Tails' throat.

Sonic was ready to jump in and stop her… but the gunfire beat him to it, striking Tink and taking her down.

"Tails!" he cried once more, rushing over before the fox fell over and held him upright. "Are you okay?!"

Tails cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. "I'm okay…" he gasped, "Who has a gun on them?"

"Shadow?" Sonic turned his head to the black hedgehog, who grinned in response.

"Thanks for the thought," he said, "But it was Omega."

Sonic looked to the table. Omega was sitting upright, arm extended with smoke coming from his recently fired gun. "Reprogramming-Aborted," he reported, "Mission:-Destroy-Eggman-Nega-And-His-Army."

Rouge smirked and patted Omega on the arm. "Good to have you back, sweetie."

"Good job on bringing back Omega in time, buddy," Sonic smiled down to Tails, who nodded his thanks.

Omega swung himself off the table and rejoined your group. "Scanning-For-Enemy," he announced, "Life-Forms-Detected-Directly-Above-Us. Picking-Up-Traces-Of-Abnormal-Intergalactic-Energy."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Abnormal energy..?"

"It must be the Power of the Stars!" Shadow shouted, "Meaning Eggman Nega must have found the Jeweled Scepter! We need to get up there, ASAP!"

Sonic turned to Omega. "Any way you can find us the quickest route from here to there?"

"Quickest-Route-Insufficient," Omega replied, "Activating-Jet-Boosts. Constructing-Direct-Approach."

His jet boosts on his back fired up, and just like that, Omega burst through the ceiling and made his way upward.

Sonic turned to his friends and shrugged. "Well, if it's the quickest way…"

Shadow and Rouge made their way upwards after their destructive robot friend. Tails grabbed a hold of Sonic and followed up.

* * *

The team made it outside of the palace, and saw Plantos Kingdom had suddenly become a practical war zone. The once beautiful scenery was now in flames and shambles. The entire palace was broken apart, with many sections crumbling down. Even more cryptic was the sky, and how the once blue sky was now shades of purple with swirling clouds high above.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted over as he stood near the edge of the wall, pointing downward, "Over there!"

Sonic joined him and looked below. Down at the courtyard, he found Eggman Nega hovering inside his Super Egg Wizard II, Jeweled Scepter in hand. He also saw Knuckles, Amy, and Gardon facing him off, along with Richard laying nearby on the ground.

He could tell things did not go well here.

Without a word, Sonic and his team jumped down the side, hoping to catch Nega off guard. Omega fired off his guns as Shadow threw a chaos attack at Nega.

Neither had any effect. The gunfire merely alerted Nega of the sneak attack, and he was able to put up a pink-bubble shield before Shadow's attack could land. He reared back and easily swiped them all from the side. They landed nearby Knuckles and Amy, who were both quick to rush over and check on them.

"Sonic!" Amy cried as she picked up his shoulders, "Are you okay?"

"Never mind me," Sonic shouted, "What the heck happened here?"

"Richard brought out the Jeweled Scepter like the idiot he is," Knuckles replied as he helped Rouge back up to her feet, "Once it was in the open, Nega tried to snag it. Richard tried to use it to fight him off… Yeah, he didn't realize that's not how it worked…"

"Poor guy didn't stand a chance," Amy muttered, shaking her head.

"Well, if it isn't the big shots themselves!" Nega's shrill voice rang out, "It brings me great pleasure to announce that you're too late!" He gave a triumphant evil laugh as the SEWII held the Jeweled Scepter high above his head. "The Jeweled Scepter, and all the powers of the cosmos are now mine to command! I shall rule every aspect of life across the entire existence! _HAhahahahaaa!"_

The clouds swirled above rapidly, forming a spinning circle, and in the center, a dimensional rift split open.

"Nega! STOP!" Gardon cried out desperately.

"It's no use," Nega snided, "You may have stopped me from taking over the world, but what can you do now to stop me from taking over the entirety of LIFE?!" The SEWII held up the scepter, commanding the Power of the Stars, and the rift split open wider. Despite the harrowing situation, Sonic was in awe at the sight of the multiple dimensions you see above, projecting from small, star-like figures.

Tails gasped out loud. "There's our world!" he cried, "I see Green Hill!"

"And us!" Knuckles shouted, "Just... different looking…" He cocked an eyebrow and scratched his head. "Why do I like so pudgy..? And what do I mean by 'do I know the way'…?"

"All these dimensions…" Nega purred out loud, "All of these life forms! All of existence, now in the palm of my hand! It's almost overwhelming… Where should I begin? Oh, wait… I know!"

He raised the scepter up once more, and like an actual apocalypse, Plantos erupted in flames. Hurricane-like wind blew over the scenery, destroying much of the plant life and homes of others. All across the horizon, lightning storms kicedk up and struck the lands.

"Stop it, you madman!" Shadow screamed, "You'll kill so many!"

"A small price to pay to pave the way for my new galactic reign," Nega sneered, "You're welcome to try and stop me…" He rose up in the Super Egg Wizard II through the dimensional rift, "But you realize you have no hope. Be grateful that I'm allowing you a little time left to enjoy life while you can. Farewell, heroes!"

Sonic gritted his teeth and tightened his fists as Nega inevitably escaped. He knew they had no way of stopping him or even chasing after him…

But somehow, deep inside, there was a raging persistence that demanded he find a way.

_"Sonic!"_

Everyone turned to see Blaze, Marine, Shade, Silver, and Angie rushing their way. Blaze waved a burlap bag in her hand.

"Hey guys!" Sonic called, waving them over, "Glad to see you're all okay!"

"Strewth!" Marine chimed, as they all screeched to a halt in front of the rest, "I'd be a real goner if Shade hadn't done her magic and saved me!"

"And we happened to run into Blaze on the way here!" said Silver.

Angie nodded and sighed. "Just in time too… Or else we'd be goners."

Blaze scanned the destruction around her. "I can't believe this is happening…" she muttered, "I've trained all my life to prevent this from ever occurring… But now…"

"Now we just gotta find a new option," Sonic grinned, "Sorry, but you know I don't give up that easily. As long as I'm still standing and breathing, I'm still gonna fight!"

"So am I!" Tails nodded and pumped his fist.

"Me too!" Amy excitedly nodded.

"I got your back, blue!" Rouge winked.

"You know you can count on me," Knuckles grinned with a pumped fist of his own.

Shadow merely nodded and crossed his arms. Sonic knew he was on board. Likewise, Omega raised his arm-gun.

"I didn't come all the way here to give up now," Silver smirked.

"Too right!" Marine chimed, jumping in the air.

Shade placed her hands on her hips. "And I'm not done yet atoning from my sins."

Blaze smiled and nodded. "So much positivity… It's impossible to throw in the towel now." She turned towards the rift and tightened her fist. "In that case, we either stop Eggman Nega once and for all, or die trying! No in-betweens!"

The rest of the group cheered in agreement.

"Sorry to cut in such a touching teamwork moment," Shadow interrupted, "But does anyone have any idea HOW we're going to stop Eggman Nega? As much as I hate to admit my shortcomings, even I don't have the power to go after him at the moment…"

Blaze turned to him. "What if you had the Chaos Emeralds?" she asked, holding up the burlap bag. She reached in and pulled out an emerald. Sure enough, it was the real deal.

"Blaze!" Sonic cried, "How did you find them?"

"Richard hid them with the Jeweled Scepter," she replied, then looked mildly uncomfortable, "I won't go into details how, but I convinced him to show me his hiding spot. Then the idiot took the scepter when Nega was spotted outside… I tried to stop him, but his robot guards held me back. All I could do was return to his chambers and grab the emeralds that he luckily left behind."

"I guess luck is all we can go on now," Shade sighed.

"That and hope," Sonic grinned with a thumbs-up.

"Better than nothing!" Knuckles grinned, smacking his fists together, "Let's do this!"

Blaze turned to Angie and Gardon. "Get Richard medical help. Then report back to General Argyle and keep an eye on things here while I'm gone."

The two soldiers saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

Shadow, with a hint of optimism in his own face, took the emeralds from Blaze and held one up. _"__Chaos Control!"_ he shouted, as everyone was enveloped in a bright flash and disappeared into the rift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As in previous chapters, you would have also had the option to choose "Go fight Richard" or "Go save Marine" but this was the easiest to go with for now, plus by not going to find Omega, you stand the chance of losing him to Eggman Nega...


	14. Nega's Final Confrontation

The group soared across the interdimensional pathways in a gold and blue bubble being controlled by both Shadow and Silver. Sonic gazed out as they passed all sorts of different "worlds" around them.

Basically, each world involved him and the others in some way or another. Sonic was still a speedy, blue hedgehog of course, but every world they went by seemed to present him differently… One world has him wearing a brown bandana around his neck and with blue arms. Another had him hanging out with a red-headed female chipmunk as they started making out (Sonic made sure Amy was looking the other way as they passed this one). Then there was another world where he singing in a rock-band with two other colored hedgehogs while using your guitar as a laser gun.

_'Man… These alternate dimensions are really weird.'_

"Focus, Sonic!" Shadow grabbed his attention, apparently noticing he had becoming distracted, "We're not here to ogle different versions of yourself. We need to find Eggman Nega before all of existence ceases to be."

Silver groaned slightly. "It's like finding a needle in a haystack," he said, "The outer dimensional space is enormous. Even with your Chaos Control and my powers, we'll never be able to find him in time!"

Of course, that's when a sudden strike hit the vessel, throwing it off course and crashing to the winding pathway below. Fortunately, the team was able to land safely. However, upon gazing upwards, they saw they were far from being safe.

"Well, isn't this a slap to the face?" Eggman Nega sneered, hovering over them all in the Super Egg Wizard II, Jeweled Scepter in hand and the Power of the Stars swirling around him. "I let you pests live a little while longer, and you throw it away for a suicide mission!"

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say we'd rather die trying to take you down, Egg-head!" Sonic shouted confidently.

"Pity," Nega chortled, "Your loss!"

The SEWII raised the scepter, and it glowed with the Power of the Stars. It then shot down multiple fire shots. Blaze and Silver held up a combo-shield made of psychokinetic fire, which warded off the shots. Shadow then quickly stepped around their shield and activated a power of his own. "_Chaos BLAST!"_

An enormous black energy ball was hurtled at the Super Egg Wizard II… only to be deflected easily, bouncing off like a rubber ball.

Shadow was stunned. "What?! NO!"

"YES!" Eggman Nega laughed, as he summoned a Chaos Blast of his own with the scepter. He pointed it at the group, and they all scrambled to get out of the way as it hit the platform they were standing on, just barely missing.

"Damn it!" Shadow shrieked, "I hate admitting this, but if I can't touch him, none of us stand a chance!" He pulled out the burlap bag that contained the Chaos Emeralds. "We need to retreat!"

"What? No!" Knuckles shouted back, "There's no guarantee we'll be able to escape!" He narrowed his eyes, "And besides, I didn't take you as a quitter, Shadow."

"He's right, you know," Rouge called over to the echidna, "If HE can't hit him, what chance do _we _stand?"

Sonic stared at the bag in Shadow's hand, tempted to take them and finish Nega off himself.

… Hopefully Shadow wasn't right.

But then he shook his head in defeat. "No, Shadow's right," he forced himself to admit, "Nega's got the Power of the Stars on his side, and they make the Chaos Emeralds' powers look like peanuts. There's nothing we can do right now."

He turned to the black-furred hedgehog, "Get us out of here, Shadow!"

As the Super Egg Wizard II held up the Jeweled Scepter, Shadow in return held up a Chaos Emerald. "_Chaos Control!"_

Whatever Eggman Nega was going to hit them with, they never found out as they all disappeared and reappeared in another part of the trans-dimensional space.

Knuckles clenched his fists in fury. "I wish you hadn't done that, guys!" he growled, "I hate running away. Plus now we got to search for Eggman Nega all over again!"

"Well, we'll find him when we're ready to face him," Sonic told his echidna friend, who didn't look convinced.

"Damn it, Sonic!" he shouted, "Don't you know we could've-"

"_Surprise_!"

Everyone turned in shock at the sight of the Super Egg Wizard II hovering close by. "Did you really think you could escape with a puny little Chaos Control?" Nega sneered, "The Power of the Stars far exceeds the power of any other magical gem! I can simply _will _myself to follow wherever you go!"

"Hey come on!" Sonic shouted, annoyed, "That's total God-moding!"

"What can I say?" Nega laughed, "With these powers, I'm practically a God now!"

He didn't waste a moment lifting up the scepter and causing the platform they all stood on to shatter. Those with flight abilities tried to grab as many as they could, and they all found themselves hovering dangerously close to the Super Egg Wizard II.

"I might've have foolishly allowed you to live once," Nega snided, "But this time around, there won't be any second chances. I won't let you find a way to stop me, not when I hold the ultimate upper hand!"

Everyone tried to get away as quick as you could, but Nega was summoning a power that felt rather dangerous and looked just as threatening. It was like a Chaos Blast, only bigger and deadlier-looking…

"Farewell, you fools!"

***BAM!***

Everyone gasped as ANOTHER energy struck through the Super Egg Wizard II, immobilizing it.

"What the-?!" Nega cried out. He smacked the controls furiously, trying to get it operational again, but it was clearly out of commission.

"There can only be one God," a low, raspy, but familiar voice rang out, "And I intend to take that title."

The energy attack above Nega appeared to shudder, and suddenly, it dropped down on the Super Egg Wizard II itself. "_Nooo!"_ the pained scream of Eggman Nega echoed before he was ultimately killed by his own massive attack.

Everyone watched in shock as the man who had caused so much trauma and hardship, for some of them so many years, dropped down to a heap of lifelessness in a matter of mere moments. In his place floated a silver, metallic being; his spines were long like dreadlocks and sharp as spikes. A long, white beard protruded from under his chin. His eyes were completely bright, shining blue, and there were no irises or pupils. He also wore a long royal purple robe with gold cuffs. In his hand, a long gold staff, similar in design of Blaze's Jeweled Scepter. He held out his free hand, and the Jeweled Scepter rose from the remains of the Super Egg Wizard II and floated up into his hand.

As everyone landed to a nearby platform, Sonic stared hard at this being. Clearly he had never seen anything like it… but he couldn't help but wonder where he'd seen him before…

"_Imperator Ix!_" Shade shrieked.

"Ix?" Sonic cried out. Now that he heard his name, it DID look a lot like him! Only with robotic features and his eyes replaced with two blue orbs.

Ix rose higher into the air as he held both scepters over his head. The pink glow resembling the Power of the Stars swirl and circle around the former imperator, as he engulfed this power.

"I knew it'd only be a matter of time," he gleamed viciously, "All it took was for another fool to bring the Power of the Stars to the outer dimension before I could use the Golden Scepter to summon myself out what was left of the Twilight Cage."

"What do you mean 'what's left of?'" Tails questioned.

Ix glared down at the group, and his face filled with disgust. "You!" he hissed, "You've thwarted my plans before, but after years of upgrading and gaining further knowledge, I will have my revenge!" He lifted both scepters above his head, "And with the Power of the Stars and TWO Scepters, I will not only rule one world, but I shall control ALL of existence! That fat fool had the right idea, but he was nowhere near worthy…"

"Lord Ix!" Shade screamed, "You can't be serious! The power has flooded your mind with insanity! You must get a hold of yourself! You know this isn't right! Surely your own people can't agree with this!"

Ix gave a rather sadistic look. "Of course they didn't," he museed, "They became more and more like you, questioning my methods and my intentions… Eventually-" He swished one of the scepters across the air dangerously, "I had to do away with them all."

Shade was taken back, and even nearly fell over in shock. "You… destroyed your own people..?"

Sonic squeezed his fists in anger. He thought Eggman Nega was sick… but this man was purely psychotic.

And what's worse, he was beyond more powerful than anyone and anything he had ever seen.

Ix merely chuckled. "What's a small group of outcast rebellions?" he snorted, "Soon I will have armies upon armies of loyalists from all over the dimensional existence!"

As he laughed maniacally, Sonic could see Shade shaking with rage, her teeth gritting, and her leech blades suddenly activating. "You _BASTARD!" _she screamed as she's suddenly launching herself into the air towards him, ready to strike.

"Shade, no, STOP!" Knuckles cried after her.

But it did no good as she was already stabbing her blades through Ix… to no avail. He easily grabbed her around the throat, plucked her off, and tossed her high above his head. He then aimed his golden Jeweled Scepter at her and shot off an energy ball, striking her dead on. She limply fell back towards the platform below. Knuckles scrambled over to catch her, and was knocked down by the sudden impact.

Ix laughed louder, catching everyone's attention. Sonic stared him down hard… it was all you could do. You couldn't touch him. Unless…

He looked over at Shadow, who still had the Chaos Emeralds. He was well aware that even the power of Super Sonic had no chance against the likes of this super-charged new and improved Ix with not one but TWO Scepters, both which can control the ever powerful Power of the Stars…

But perhaps he could at least go Super and give the others a chance to escape…

And then what? Get his butt whooped and eventually leaving the others wide open for Ix to chase down and hurt like he did Shade? Maybe even worse?

Sonic groaned to yourself. There's nothing he could do… It was all in a higher authority's hands now…

As Ix was ready to finish up the job; he aimed both Scepters at the team of heroes…

A strange, blue, spiraling portal opened up just above Ix. He sensed this and turned back to see. In fear, he jumped back. "No… NO! Not again!" he cried out.

Sonic looked up questioningly, and was shocked to see black, tentacle-like appendages reaching out of the portal.

_Argus… Argus…_

Everybody looked around, confused. "Do you hear that?" said Amy.

And it suddenly came to Sonic... Back in the Kron Colony, when they had met with Nestor the Wise, he had told them many interesting things, such as having learned much more about what came to be known by the Nocturnus Clan as the "Argus Event." Their misdeeds after the events of Perfect Chaos had somehow opened a portal where a strange creature literally picked up their land and pulled them through into the Twilight Cage…

Now all those stories made sense!

Ix's golden staff was THEIR dimension's version of the Jeweled Scepter, or what Ix had literally just called 'The Golden Scepter'! The Knuckles Tribe was at war with the Nocturnus Tribe, and when they found the scepter, they had the upper hand, especially having conquered most of the world as it was. The Knuckles Tribe had attempted to use the Master Emerald in an attempt to counter the Nocturnus' primary weapon, but that only lead to Perfect Chaos destroying them all, and Tikal sealing Chaos along with herself inside the Master Emerald. The Nocturnus didn't have the chance to use the Master Emerald before this 'Argus' creature came by to take them away, most likely to punish them for misusing the Power of the Stars…

That creature with the black tentacles was Argus!

And he was going to take care of Ix once more!

Sonic didn't think that his little "higher authority" request had actually been answered!

There was only one issue… Ix had reared back his scepters and then thrust them forward, shooting a massive amount of energy into the portal. A horrible screech rang out, and the tentacles retracted. Ix smirks, satisfied.

"Come on, Argus!" Sonic shouted, "Don't give up now!"

"Argus..?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, then his eyes widened, "THAT'S Argus?" Realization seemed to go through him, like it did Sonic. Everyone else started to catch on as well.

"It's no use," Ix murmured, "Even this damned creature has no chance against me! Try all you like, you will NOT imprison me once more!"

"Then I have no choice but to destroy you…" A deep, feminine voice rang out. The portal brightened in hue, and an angelic, nude being slowly descended from above. She had the form of a human, with long, flowing, blonde hair with purple highlights. Her eyes had no irises or pupils and instead were pure white.

Ix stared on, in shock. "Who… Who are you?"

"I am Goddess Aurora," she spoke, "I am the true God of all life." She pointed at Ix, "You who have misused and perverted my powers, I shall punish personally."

Aurora raised her palm at Ix and emitted a bright glow. However, Ix crossed the scepters together to form an X, and also a dark colored shield to protect himself from whatever attack Aurora had shot at him. He then raised one of the scepters at the Goddess and shot a dark energy at her. She quickly shielded herself, but was still knocked back.

Sonic stepped forward. "There's got to be something we can do!"

In response, Aurora pointed her palm at him and his group. "There is nothing you can do!" she shouted, "I will handle him! You must escape!"

And with a single swipe upwards, the team found yourselves teleporting to a brand new place.

Sonic looked around frantically. He and his friends were now in another type of dimension. It was bright and beautiful, but also a bit quiet. They were on a dirt road with grassy knolls on each side. Down the road stood a single house.

"Aurora?" he cried out, only to get no response.

"I don't believe this…" Shadow muttered, "That was the deity himself! Or herself rather… SHE was the creator of all life, and all dimensions! EVERYTHING!"

"Are you a believer now, Shadow?" Rouge smirked.

"This isn't any time to joke!" Silver said, "This is the worst kind of crisis I've ever dealt with! This is BEYOND Eggman Nega! Now we're dealing with a demi-god that's on par with an actual god!"

"Let's try to keep our heads together," Blaze followed up, "Aurora may have sent us away, but we have weapons at our own disposal. If we can locate them again, then-"

"Did you all forget Shade's wounded badly?" Knuckles snapped. They all turned to see him on the ground, holding Shade across his lap, and his hand covering her abdomen, where blood continued to seep out.

Now that things were calm, Sonic had the chance to examine her injury closer. He could see blood coming out where Knuckles has his hand, but it was also seeping out Shade's backside as well. Unless this quiet little world had a hospital nearby (or at least signs pointing to the closest direction) he was afraid this may be the end for Shade…

"What's all that commotion out there?" a voice rang out down the road.

Sonic turned your head to see a blue, armored creature running out of the house and turning to see them. "YOU!" he cried out.

"It's a Zoah!" Tails cried.

The Zoah brute's arm turned completely crystal and it stormed towards the group.

"Thaxas!" another voice rang out, "What is it?"

"It's those traitors!" the Zoah, Thaxas, stopped in his tracks and reared back, "They've returned!"

From the house, a whole group of different species piled out. There were two Kron warriors, six Voxai, another Zoah brute, and a N'rrgal.

"They can't possibly be traitors if they've returned," Sonic heard the voice of one of the Voxai speak inside his head, and possibly to the others as well.

Thaxas turned back and threatened his crystal arm. "They left us at the mercy of Imperator Ix so they can escape themselves! If THAT isn't traitorous, I don't know what is!"

"Calm yourself, sister!" said the second Zoah, taking Thaxas' shoulder, "Let them speak."

Sonic blinked. Sister…? He could've sworn that was a male… _'Hoo boy…'_

"You're a disgrace to the Zoah race, Cyrix!" Thaxas screamed, ripping her shoulder away, "We are a species of warriors! We live for warfare! That N'rrgal beast softened you too much!"

"Don't speak that way about N'rrga!" Cyrix shouted, "And anyway, this is not the time to discuss such things!"

"Your brother speaks the truth," another Voxai said, "This is the first set of visitors we've seen since Aurora brought us here for our protection. We need all the help we can get."

"So can we!" Marine piped up, "Our mate here's injured! Badly! She helped me before, so I wanna help her! So I need yer help for that t'happen!"

N'rrga went to slide forward, but Thaxas held out her arm to stop her. "Don't you dare!" she shouts at her before turning to the group again, "Why should we help you when you didn't bother helping us?"

The Voxai floated in front of her. "Thaxas, please!"

"No!" she swiped them away, "Come on, am I the only one here that remembers?" She pointed at the two Kron warriors, "You two remember the hell we went through after these cowards abandoned us, don't you?"

"Hey, we didn't abandon you!" Sonic shouted, "You were all going to finally attack Ix and win control of your worlds! We just needed to get back to ours!"

"You failed to inform us just how much stronger Ix had gotten!" Thaxas shouted, "We won't fall for your treachery again!"

"Agrees Krane and Krog!" one of the Kron warriors stepped up, "Leave behind Sonic and friends us." They both smashed their fists together. "Forget betrayal Kron warriors don't! Destroy you we!"

"That's more like it," Thaxas raised her crystal arm once more.

Sonic narrowed your eyes. Sounds like these guys weren't going to be persuaded so easily with words…. But was fighting really the way to go?

He looked to your teammates. Some of them, such as Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Blaze, and Marine looked as if they were ready to rumble. The other half (Tails, Amy, Silver and Knuckles) however, looked apprehensive and want to talk it out. Even Knuckles, surprisingly, though it shouldn't be, given that Shade was bleeding heavily in his arms and he wanted to help her…

_'What should you do?'_

Having decided for everyone, Sonic stepped forward and took a deep breath. He eyed the aliens, preparing himself for what he was about to do…

He then dropped to his knees. "We're sorry. Please forgive us!"

His teammates looked at him in shock. It was safe to assume that not one of them expected this coming from him. "Sonic?"

"I'm serious," he continued, "We shouldn't have just left you without knowing for sure you'd be all right. We had no way of thinking Ix could've gotten stronger and hurt you all even worse. You were brave to turn against him in order to help us. And in return, we left you in the dust just so WE could go home… That seriously wasn't cool."

Thaxas stared him down. He couldn't tell what she's thinking, since her armor blocked her expression.

"I get it," Sonic went on, "You probably don't want to forgive us. We probably don't deserve it. If it weren't for us, you'd still have your colonies. So if you want us to go, we will. But if you could consider helping us, help the goddess Aurora take him out, maybe even save our friend Shade… I promise you, we WON'T leave you behind again. We'll make sure we ALL survive. Otherwise, well…" He lowered your head. "You can take it out on me."

The two Kron warriors lowered their arms. Thaxas still fixated on you. "Cute," she droned, "But that doesn't bring back our worlds… our friends and loved ones!"

"For what it's worth…" Tails stepped up to Sonic and got down on his knees as well, "Take me out too."

"What?" Sonic cried, "No, Tails!"

"We were in it together, Sonic," he replied to you, "It's not fair if they only take you out."

"Same here!" Amy called, as she came to Sonic's other side and dropped to her knees.

"Agreed," said Silver, following suit.

"Don't leave me out now," said Rouge, as she stepped up and got on her knees.

"Me too," said Knuckles, but held Shade close, "I'm already on my knees here… but if my friends die, I die with them."

"What friend would I be if I let everyone sacrifice themselves, and not join their cause?" Blaze approached and dropped to her knees as well.

"Where Blaze goes, I go!" said Marine, and knelt down next to her cat friend.

"Lowering-Defense-Mode," Omega announced and dropped down.

The only one standing was Shadow. He looked at his group as if they were crazy. Given the situation, they probably were and he was probably right. Regardless, he finally caved in, sighing, and dropped down to his knees. "I don't see how this helps us defeat Ix," he muttered.

Thaxas kept her arm up. "A lot of good this does you!" she shouted, "You think you're suddenly good people because you say sorry and you let us kill you like YOU DESERVE?!"

"That's enough, Thaxas!" Cyrix shouted out, "Lower your weapon!"

Thaxas turned to her brother, "Did you forget what they did?"

"They freed our colony from Ix's tyranny," Cyrix replied, "We agreed to help them go home. As far as I'm concerned, they had held up their end of the deal. Even though things did go worse, it wasn't directly their fault!"

Thaxas turned viciously to him. "Then who's fault is it, then?"

"Imperator Ix!" a Voxai shouted, "He caused everything! Sonic and his friends were trying to help, and we returned the favor. And now they're apologizing for the aftermath and not being able to help us. What more do you want?"

Thaxas' arm shook. Cyrix came over to her, and gently lowered it. "Put your weapon away, sister," he said calmly, "There's been enough violence and bloodshed between us now. No one is to blame except Ix…"

"And if we have a chance to stop him once and for all," spoke another Voxai, "We should take it."

"But…" Thaxas stuttered, "What we've been through…"

"We're the only surrrvivors," said N'rrga as she slid over, "We must have lived for a rrreason…"

"Agree Krane and Krog," the Kron duo stand down, "No fighting."

Thaxas finally decrystallized her arm. "Fine… Very well…"

A third Voxai looked over to you and your group. "I think it's safe to assume you have new friends to help you out."

Sonic smile and nodded his thanks.

"For starterrrs," N'rrga slid over to Knuckles and Shade, and suddenly engulfed the female echidna completely into her body.

"Hey!" Knuckles shouted, jumping to his feet and threatening a fist, "What are you-"

"She's HELPING her," Cyrix replied quickly, as he jumped between him and the N'rrgal creature, "Royal N'rrgals are born have a specialty slime. It can heal the worst of wounds."

"I am going to take yourrr frrriend inside," N'rrga replied as she slides back down the road towards her house, "Check back with me in an hourrr or so…"

As she disappeared, Sonic looked up at Cyrix. "Royal N'rrgal?"

Cyrix nodded. "Yes. She's a direct spawn of the Queen N'rrgal. A princess N'rrgal, so to say."

"And his lover," a Voxai added in.

Thaxas whipped her head at the creature. "That info is not needed!"

"I'm not ashamed," Cyrix replied, "It's true that the Zoah and the N'rrgals have warred for years. But now that destiny has brought us all together, it's time we lived as one whole…"

"Touching," Knuckles rolled his eyes, "Can I please go check on Shade?"

"She's in good hands, I assure you," Cyrix responded.

"Krane want more to fight Ix monster!" Krane the Kron smacked his hand into his palm.

"We won their trust," Sonic told Knuckles, "The least we can do is give them ours."

"And Ix is still out there giving Aurora much-too difficult fight than needed," Blaze explained.

"Then it's settled," Shadow cut in, "We're going back to fight Ix once more."

"But we didn't stand much of a chance last time," said Silver, "What can we do that's different?"

Knuckles went to speak, but was interrupted by the clanking of the two massive Krons as they approached closer. "Join you Krog and Krane will," said Krog, "Power no matter, Kron Warriors quit not without worthy effort."

"Other than my brother and his new girlfriend," Thaxas added in, "I have nothing else left to fight for… And honestly," Sonic could hear her voice get a tad softer, "They're worth fighting for."

"You will not fight without me by your side, Thaxas," Cyrix added.

"Okay," said Knuckles, "How about-"

"We Voxai are not much the fighting type," spoke one of the Voxai, "But we will offer three of our strongest minds to aid you."

"You think that'll be enough?" Sonic asked.

"_Can I speak please?!" _Knuckles snapped, grabbing everyone's attention.

It was quiet for a moment, until finally Rouge answered, "Go ahead…"

"I was GOING to say, before I was constantly being interrupted," Knuckles reached behind himself… and mysteriously managed to pull out what else, but the Master Emerald.

Everyone gasped. "You had it on you the entire time?" Sonic cried.

Knuckles nodded. "I _was_ going to use it against Ix somehow, but you insisted on escaping instead."

Sonic wanted to ask why he didn't say or do something sooner, but something more pressing was bothering him… "Where were you hiding that thing anyway? It's not exactly easy to miss!"

"Hammerspace," Knuckles shrugged, "Same where Amy keeps her Piko Hammer."

The pink hedgehog grinned. "I taught him that trick!" she chimes.

Sonic wanted to question it more, but decided it was not really important right now.

"Can the Master Emerald transform us like the Chaos and Sol Emeralds can?" Shadow asked.

"Not entirely," Knuckles replied, "But it could give the emeralds a boost and amplify the transformation. I don't know about the Sol Emeralds, but for the Chaos ones, I'm positive it will work!"

"Fine by me," said Blaze, "I can handle a Super transformation through means other than the Sol Emeralds."

"But we're not looking at a super form, Blaze," Sonic said, "We're talking about a transformation BEYOND that… Like a HYPER form!"

Tails smiled, impressed. "Neat!"

"Then why are we sitting here yapping our mouths off?" Shadow snapped, "Are we doing this or not?"

Everyone nodded their heads. "Let's go!"


	15. The Final Boss Battle

Tails, Amy, and Marine agreed to stay behind and help N'rrga take care of Shade, along with three of the Voxai Vrummus, Thanos, and Creasis.

Meanwhile, Knuckles used the Master Emerald to sense where Ix and Aurora are. Once he locked on, with Shadow's help using the Chaos Emeralds, they used both to Chaos Control the rest of the group to their precise location.

In a split second, Sonic found himself back on the familiar yet more severely damaged dimension pathway. The beautiful and powerful goddess Aurora was now laying in a weakened heap. Ix was hovering over her, surrounded by a cloud of dark aura.

"You… The Creator of All," he mused, "Master of the Ultimate Powers… Now reduced to a mere mortal status." He chuckled wickedly as he pointed his two scepters at her. "Creator or not, you are not worthy of such a title as god. It brings me pleasure to destroy you and take over that role."

"_Huuraaagh!"_

Without hesitation, Krane and Krog had rushed in. Krane held out his hands for his brother Krog to jump in and be hurled at Ultimate Ix above. The Kron warrior managed to grab the upgraded echidna, wrestling him downward, but only to be thrown off by a simple blast of one of the scepters.

Ix turned to the rest of the group despairingly, but Krane rushed in once more. Ix pointed his scepter, but froze suddenly and staggered. He grunted as he struggled to move more than an inch. Sonic looked over to see the three other Voxai (Themma, Vemas, and Vennas) locking their minds with Ix's while struggling.

"Be quick!" Cyrix shouted towards the group as he and Thaxas ran at Ix, "We can only hold him for so long!"

"We'll cover you!" Rouge called over as well as she and Omega rushed in by the Zoah's sides.

Sonic turned to Knuckles, standing by the Master Emerald as he held it up with his hand. "Okay buddy," he said, "You're up."

The echidna nodded and turned to the Master Emerald, placing both hands on the side. Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Blaze stood on each of the four corners of the giant gem. The Chaos Emeralds were placed in a circle within them.

"The servers are the seven chaos," Knuckles murmured, closing his eyes as if to remember the prayer, "Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart… The controller is the one that unifies the chaos!"

The Master Emerald glowed, and the Chaos Emeralds rose high into the air.

"Super charge the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles commanded the Master Emerald, "Give these guys the power they need to defeat Ix!"

The Master Emerald let loose what looked like an electrical charge, which then shot into each Chaos Emerald, turning their colors brighter than ever. They then circled around above the other four, and suddenly, all of them were hit with the emeralds' powers, which Sonic could feel had increased immensely.

The hedgehog felt more energized than ever, as if he could circle the Earth a thousand times in a second. He looked down at himself and saw his entire body was glowing white with a little dash of different colors sparkling around. Silver and Shadow looked the same way, complete with upright quills, though Shadow's red streaks had turned a bright pink. Blaze's fur had turned a bright yellow, and both highlights on her tail and hair had completely vanished, and her eyes had turned from gold to red.

So THIS was Hyper form…

Hyper Sonic turned down to Knuckles, seeing he was still pressed against the Master Emerald. "Hey Knuckles!" he called down, "You coming?"

"Go on ahead, Sonic!" the echidna shouted back at you as he struggles holding onto the Master Emerald, "I've got to keep this power going. You can do this just fine!"

Sonic nodded his head. "Got it! Leave it to us!" And they rushed over to the others and headed towards Imperator Ix.

As they arrived, they saw Ix managing to push back the Voxai and regaining control of his body. The Kron attacked, but Ix knocked them aside too easily. Omega jumped in, bombarding Ix with as much fire power as he could, but Ix was able to shield himself. He swung one of his scepters, knocking everyone nearby far off.

"I think we've got what it takes to beat him," Hyper Shadow said, "But we have to coordinate our attacks precisely."

"He'll likely throw our attacks aside, unless we can keep him still," Hyper Silver inputted.

"But if we can catch him off guard, we can give him all we've got," Hyper Blaze added.

"Then we'll follow up with an attack like no other!" Hyper Sonic confidently thrusted his fist.

"Blaze and Silver, you two will be on the defense," Shadow ordered, "Silver, try to hold him still the moment you can. Blaze, shield us if and when Ix attacks. Sonic, you and I will attack when we have an opening."

"Yeah sure," said Sonic, "But which one of us is going first?"

Ix finally takes notice of the four and turned around, giving them his full attention. He prepared himself, ready to attack. The tips of the two scepters glow a familiar light blue, as he charged his attack towards the group.

Sonic remembered this as Ix's Overload Attack! And with TWO scepters backed up by the Power of the Stars, it'll probably do worse damage than the last time if it hits!

Ix threw his scepters forward, blasting a powerful black orb of chaos energy towards Sonic and his group.

"Blaze, GO!" Sonic shouted.

Blaze was quick to jump in front of the other, holding her hands out. A fiery red shield emited from her palms, which engulfed your team as the Overload Attack hits. The platforms below shook violently, but everyone is safe.

"Your turn, Shadow!"

Ix barely had a chance to step back from his last attack before Shadow zipped in front of him, forming a massive ball of chaos energy himself, swirling with black and purple power. "_Chaos Blast!"_ he screamed as he hurls it at Ix, striking him head on. He's knocked for a loop, but Sonic could see he was still in the game…

He looked over to Silver, who already knew he was next and nodded. Just as Ix got his bearings back, he was suddenly engulfed in a golden-blue energy, once again unable to move. "I got him, Sonic!" Silver shouted, "Now finish him off!"

"N… no…!" Ix managed to squeak out, "This… can't… be!"

"Oh it is, pal!" Sonic shouted as he took higher to the sky, "I curb-stomped you once, and I'm gonna do it again!"

He went into a spin, and shot himself at the defenseless Ix eight times. He then followed up with a double round-house kick before jumping up and landing both heels square onto Ix's head. Next, he took to the air once more as he did a total of TWELVE homing attacks from every angle in under a second and a half. He then finished off by hovering over Ix and shooting an explosion amount of golden chaos energy from his palms directly onto him.

Ix was defeated.

"Ha ha!" Sonic laughed, "Just as easy as last time!"

Ix fell to the ground, dropping both scepters with him. As he hit the platforms, he stopped glowing. The Powers of the Stars had left him. Without even lifting his head, he weakly reached over to grab the scepters on each side…

"I'll take those!" Rouge chimed as she swooped in and snatched them both before Ix could even reach.

Sonic noticed movement from Aurora, and turned to see she was weakly holding up her hand. "Ar… Argus!" she cried out before dropping her arm.

_Argus… Argus…_

There's a weird sound again!

Above everyone, a portal ripped open, and the familiar black tentacles poked through. The alien creatures were quick to jump back. As they were once before taken by this guy, they probably didn't want history to repeat itself…

But Argus ignored them and instead scooped up the downed Ix, pulling him into the portal.

Aurora tried to raise her hand once more, but she slumped back to the ground. Sonic noticed the portal wasn't closing.

"Come on, guys!" Sonic shouted as he took to the sky, "Let's give the goddess a little hand!"

Shadow, Silver, and Blaze followed him, and they all took a place right beneath the portal. They raised their hands and emitted a chaotic yellow energy.

"_Chaos Control!"_ you all shout as your technique vanquishes the portal.

It's game over… and the heroes had won!

It's affirmed by the cheers of joy beneath them by the Zoah, the Kron, and the Voxai. Even Rouge cheered for you, while Omega did some sort of robotic victory dance.

"Aurora!" Sonic heard Blaze cry. He and the others turned to see the cat landing by the goddess' immobile side quickly joined her.

Aurora, who originally had an essence of light emitting from herself, was now dull and near-dead. This was no way for a deity to go out…

But what could they do? Sonic looked to the others for help.

"I know of a technique," Shadow explained, "I've never used it before, but the knowledge came to me with the rest of my chaos attacks upon my creation."

He held up his arms. "Just follow my lead!" he ordered as a golden orb formed above his head.

Sonic, Blaze, and Silver nodded and followed suit. Golden orbs formed above their heads as well. Shadow then took to the air, and merged his orb with all of the others. "_Chaos Regeneration!" _he shouted as he took the orbs and threw them into Aurora's body.

The goddess glowed brightly, as if life was reentering. Her pure white eyes open, and she rose up, and hovered back into the sky. She looked downward at the four of the hyper-formed heroes, and they all flew up to meet her level.

"Your greatness," Blaze spoke, giving a formal bow. The other boys did the same.

"You have harnessed such great power in an incredible way," Aurora spoke, "How, I do not know. But I question the integrity of you using this power that I have created."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "That's a kind way to say 'thank you'!" he spat.

Sonic smacked him upside the head. "Shadow, shut it!" he shouted, "That's a Goddess you're talking too!"

"An ungrateful Goddess!" he hissed, "And if you hit me again, Sonic, I'll-"

"Knock it off!" Silver quickly got between the two, "Save it for the playground, all right?!"

Blaze turned back to Aurora. "Forgive us," she said, "We are unworthy of such great power, especially when it becomes uncovered and misused." She turned back to Sonic, Silver, and Shadow, "Let's power down as a sign of good faith."

Sonic looked down over to Knuckles, who was still up against the Master Emerald. He was breathing heavily as he continued to give everyone this power from the Master Emerald. "Yeah. I think Knuckles needs a breather now," he replied and soared downwards.

Blaze, Shadow, and Silver followed him. Once they were all near the Master Emerald, they powered down, reverting back to their normal forms. Knuckles finally let go and in exhaustion, fell to the side. Luckily, Sonic was quick to zip over and catch him. "Knuckles, you okay?" he asked, letting his backside rest on his knee.

Knuckles still breathed hard, but he opened his eyes and gave a faint smile. "Yeah," he sighed, "Just gotta catch my breath…"

"You who all use this power that I created," Aurora spoke, grabbing everyone's attention, "You use it wisely… and for the best. I was too quick to be worried when I had nothing to fear…"

The Goddess glowed once more, until she was nothing but a shining ball of light. The light shrank in size, and reformed as a human once more, only smaller in size (about your height) and wearing white robes. Her hair was still blonde with purple streaks, but she opened her eyes to reveal them to be blue.

"Aurora..?" Sonic spoke.

The small woman nodded. "As a sign of my trust, I too have powered down," she said, "When I created these dimensions, I also created these powerful artifacts to help form and connect your worlds. They were meant to be used as guides. Unfortunately, I cannot control every living being, and cannot control them should they decide to use them for their selfish agendas. I can only punish and expel so as to prevent further tragedies."

"Such as the Argus Event," Knuckles said.

Aurora nodded. "Argus is one of my servants, the one who captures and sends away the evil ones to an imprisonment dimension." She turned to the Voxai, Zoah, and Kron. "Although you have not gravely sinned, your powers had increased a thousandfold, and some of you were on the verge of destruction. I felt it necessary to imprison you for the safety of others…" She lowered her head in shame, "But just like now, I realize I may have acted on impulse."

"Well, to be honest, your Greatness," Cyrix spoke softly, "The Zoah WERE looking to conquer others."

"Still, I acted before I needed to," Aurora replied, "For this, I would like to apologize, perhaps by restoring your dimensions?"

The species looked over each other briefly, then as if unanimously decided, turned back to the Goddess. "There's not much left after what Ix did," Themma replied, "We were all getting along famously in that small dimension you sent us to after Ix attacked us."

"As long as I'm with N'rrga, I'm happy," Cyrix nodded.

"In other words," said Thaxas, "We'll be fine."

Aurora smiled, nodded, and then turned to Sonic and his friends. "As for you brave heroes, I cannot thank you enough for what you've done for me, and for all these other worlds. What can I do to express my gratitude?"

_-"Just send us home."_

_-"Give me an unlimited amount of chili dogs!"_

_-"Give us a way to travel across dimensions safely."_

_-"What's your story, Aurora?"_

_-"Seal away all the ancient artifacts for good."_

* * *

"**What's Your Story?"**

* * *

Aurora smiled at you. "Ah, yes," she replied, "I haven't given much hint as to why you are here, and how you came to be, have I?

"Though I cannot fully explain how I myself came to be, I do know that I was bestowed these powers of creation over many millennia ago. With such powers given to me, I wanted to give back… so I created new life and new worlds.

"For each dimension I created, I gave it a magic Scepter, such as those two you hold," Aurora pointed to Rouge, still hanging onto the two she had stolen from Ix.

The bat pouted. "I guess this means I can't keep them, can I?"

"I WAS going to ask for mine back," Blaze grumbled.

"The purpose of the Scepters were to maintain and lock away the Power of the Stars, which ensured the stability of every dimension and maintained their existence," Aurora explained, "It's a big job, so yes, that's why they've become so powerful."

"Speaking of power," Knuckles cut in, "What about the Chaos Emeralds? AND the Master Emerald? And heck, even the Sol Emeralds as well? What's their purpose?"

"You're aware of chaos, are you not?" Aurora responded, "When I created the worlds, I made sure to include every element; earth, wind, fire, water… But with my powers, I may have accidentally added an additional element: Chaos. Every world has it, though many worlds have a stronger element than others. Blaze's world, for example, is built around fire. And yours is strongest with chaos. Hence the different type of emeralds you have. They help sustain your world, as well as amplify your own natural powers.

"As for the Master Emerald, its purpose is to keep those powers in check," she continued to explain, "Like the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, every other world has its own version of the Master Emerald. Even yours, Blaze."

Blaze crossed her arms, tilted her head, and gave an amused "Huh" noise.

"So does every dimension have some sort of sets of emeralds?" Sonic asked curiously.

Aurora nodded. "Yes. Though, not every person has discovered them as of yet…" The goddess then looked over at him and smiled. "Sonic the Hedgehog…"

Sonic blinked. "Uh… Yes?"

"You are something quite special," she said, "A version of you almost exists in every different dimension I have created… Yet your purpose has mostly been the same. You're a great hero who goes above and beyond to help others. Sometimes it's for your ego, sometimes it's because you're bored."

Sonic heard a faint snicker from some of his friends, and he rolled his eyes and twitched his nose in response.

"But for the most part," Aurora continued, "It's because your heart is truly pure. You play a very important role in every world you're in."

Sonic smiled, feeling rather humbled. "Thanks," he replied, "Though… is there any particular reason why? I mean, why'd you make me so special?"

"That's just it," said Aurora, "I didn't."

Sonic blinked. "Huh?"

"It is of your own doing," Aurora smiled at him once more, "It is you who are special, all on your own."

Sonic gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of your head. His friends (save Shadow) looked over to him and smiled, as if agreeing. "It'_s _true," Blaze said softly.

"Sonic, is it me, or are you blushing?" Knuckles joked as he gave the hedgehog a slight noogie.

"Hey, come on, I don't run on ego," Sonic chuckled.

"Apparently, some versions of you do," Shadow replied glumly.

"Anything else?" Aurora offers.

* * *

**UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF CHILI DOGS**

* * *

Sonic said his request…

And everyone practically fell on their faces.

"Sonic, are you SERIOUS?!" Knuckles screamed, jumping back to his feet and shaking him wildly, "Of all the things you could ask the creator of everything, you ask for unlimited chili dogs?"

Sonic chuckled and shrugged. "Hey, when am I ever going to get this opportunity again?"

"_That's the whole point, you idiot!"_

Aurora gave a nervous laugh herself. "I may be a deity, but even I cannot perform such a miracle," she responded, "It looks like you're stuck cooking them yourself…"

Sonic was visibly disappointed in the answer, but he went on to think of something else to ask.

* * *

**Seal Away All Ancient Artifacts**

* * *

Sonic thought hard about what to ask, and decided to come up with a solution, knowing however that it would become rather unpopular with the others.

"Aurora," he spoke, "Can you seal away the ancient artifacts permanently?"

As expected, everyone looked at you in shock.

"Sonic, are you crazy?" Knuckles spat, "Seal away the Chaos Emeralds? And the Master Emerald?"

"And the Scepters?" Blaze added, "What if we might need their power?"

"We wouldn't be in these messes, especially one that nearly wiped out all of existence, if they weren't discovered and misused to begin with," Sonic countered.

Aurora lowered her head. "Perhaps if I had kept them from being found and used at all…"

"But they weren't ALWAYS used for selfish agendas!" Rouge cried out, "Sonic, how many times have you and Shadow used the Chaos Emeralds to save the world? Including _just now!"_

"And without the Scepters, there's no way we could ensure every dimension's stability," said Silver.

"Oh they'd be stable," Sonic said, "Just not used to steal the powers of the dimensions themselves. You know how 'well' that worked for Eggman Nega and Ix. And if Eggman hadn't tried to take the Chaos Emeralds for his own greedy plans, we wouldn't need to be saving the world to begin with."

"You make a good point, Sonic the Hedgehog," Aurora replied, "But this is a grave sacrifice… You are aware that without the Chaos Emeralds, or even the scepters, or ANY magic artifact…"

"The world will be a boring place, that's for sure," Shadow grumbled.

"Plus, when I send your friends to your rightful timeline and dimensions, you may never see them again…" Aurora added.

Sonic quickly glanced up at Silver and Blaze. They both looked rather apprehensive at the idea. Especially Blaze. He could tell she really didn't want to lose him…

But… maybe it's for the best…

"You're not seriously considering this, are you Sonic?" Knuckles shouted, "It'd be nice if you considered my thoughts about losing the Master Emerald forever!"

"And the Chaos Emeralds!" Rouge jumped in, "And I'm not just saying this as a treasure hunter who wouldn't mind turning them into a pretty necklace of her own…"

Blaze lowered her head. "It may be for the best," she echoed Sonic's earlier thoughts, "Our own dimensions nearly collapsed because their intertwining nearly destroyed it. Worlds are difficult to co-exist. It would be better stability if they were ensured to stay separate."

"But at the cost of legendary items, some even near and dear to us?" said Silver.

_This is indeed a mixed bag of nuts…. Are you sure you want to go through with this idea, Sonic?_

_-Get rid of them._

_-Wait, nevermind!_

* * *

**Wait, Nevermind!**

* * *

Sonic crossed his arms and tapped your foot. "You know what…" he mumbled, "Thinking about it more… Maybe getting rid of all the artifacts probably ISN'T the best idea."

He heard a collective sigh from the others.

"It was something I probably should've ensured when I created all these different worlds," Aurora said, "However, if you truly promise to keep them out of the hands of those who would do evil, I will keep them as they are."

Sonic nodded. "Thanks."

"In which case," Aurora continued, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

* * *

**SAFE DIMENSIONAL TRAVELS**

* * *

An idea came to Sonic's head, and he stepped forward. "Aurora," he spoke, "Is there a way we can travel across dimensions safely? In the past, cross traveling proved to be dangerous, which was proven when Blaze and Nega got thrown into my world. I don't want to lose my friends… and one of my friends has a sister that was thrown into a different dimension. I'd like to be able to find her and bring her home someday."

Aurora looked at him for a moment, then lowered her head to think.

"It can be done," she replied.

Sonic grinned. "Really?! GREAT!"

Aurora lifted her head with a smile. "You have proven yourselves worthy of wielding such great powers," she continued, "So long as you promise to keep these powers safe, you may use them to your advantage."

"So how can it be done?" Blaze asked.

Aurora smiled at her. "You've actually been doing it all along," she explained, "The powers of interdimensional travel comes from the emeralds linking to the Power of the Stars. They sustain the existence of each world, but when properly used, you can safely cut an opening into different dimensional gateways."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Huh… Sounds like we figured it out a long time ago!"

Shadow grunted loudly. "I could've told you this myself…"

Sonic looked up at Blaze and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Looks like we'll be seeing more of each other than we thought, eh?" he grinned at her.

Blaze smiled warmly at this. "I look forward to it."

"Wish I could say the same," Silver sighed, "Travelling different dimensions is one thing, but you and I are in the same world, Sonic… only in different timelines. We can't really go back and forth seeing each other without putting my future at risk of accidentally erasing."

Sonic frowned. "Dang… bummer…"

"I have it covered," Aurora spoke. She raised her palm and emitted a small white light, which rose high into the sky, and suddenly exploded, shooting rays off in different directions, and lighting the sky different colors.

"Uh… what just happened?" Rouge questioned.

"I made Silver's timeline its own separate pocket dimension," Aurora smileed, "Meaning if he's ever back in Sonic's time, no matter what happens, it will have no impact on his own world."

Silver grinned widely. "Thank you, Aurora!" he cried.

"No... thank you," Aurora responded, "You've gone above and beyond to help me and other living beings. Your world deserves peace."

"Speaking of worlds," Knuckles spoke up, "Do you think you can send us back now? I really want to check on Shade."

Sonic noticed a small hint of disapproval coming from Rouge.

"And I Marine," Blaze added, "And I'm sure Sonic is worried for Tails and Amy as well."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," Aurora nodded, and waved her hand, "I'll take you to your friends, but I think you know the way back home yourself now."

The group found themselves fading away.

"_Fare thee well, heroes!"_


	16. Epilogue

As soon as the group had faded away, they found themselves fading back into existence. All of them were back on the alien's small world, right outside the house they had built and lived in.

Cyrix dashed inside, throwing the door open loudly. "N'rrga!" he cried out.

The slug-like N'rrgal princess was sitting at the table. She raised her head (or what Sonic assumed to be her head) at their entrances and quickly slid over to the Zoah warrior. "Cyrrrix!" she cried, pushing her slimy green substance into Cyrix's crystalized armor, "You'rrre back! And you all made it back sssafe and sssound!"

Everyone else piled in from behind. "Where is everyone?" Thanos asked as she floated in last.

"They'rrre all downssstairrrs," N'rrga replied, "Yourrr frrriend is rrrrecovery nicely. I was simply waiting forrr you all to arrrrive."

"Show me the way!" Knuckles demanded, stepping forward.

N'rrga complied and led the way towards the basement. She left a trail of green slime behind her, which everyone was careful to avoid as they followed down the steps.

Everyone was ecstatic to see you all coming down and jump to their feet. "Sonic!" Tails cried as he was about to run at him, only to be bumped down by a dashing Amy, who grabbed Sonic first.

"Soniiic!" she chimed, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and nearly cutting off the blood flow to his brain, "You're safe! I was worried! Though I should know now not to be! You always find a way to come back without a scratch!"

Sonic gave a small sigh. "Thanks, Amy," he said, patting her back, "Good to see you again. And everyone else too."

Amy pulled back a bit, frowning. "But me most, right?"

"Well…" he trailed off, hoping for some sort of distraction so he wouldn't have to answer.

The pink hedgehog grinned. "It's okay!" she cheered, "That's good enough for me!" she let go and hopped over to the others, greeting them as well.

"Shade?" Knuckles' voice called out. Sonic looked over, seeing the echidna storm around the room, looking everywhere.

"Uh, Knuckles," Tails started.

"Where is she?" Knuckles shouted, "I was told she was recovering! Why don't I see her?"

"Knuckles," Tails said again, "Shade's-"

"WHAT?" he cried out, "Is she all right? She's not dead, is she? How is THAT recovering? Tell me where's she at!"

"Try looking behind you…"

Knuckles whipped around at the voice, and saw a tired Shade standing at the doorway of an adjacent room. Most of her upper armor had been removed, leaving her chest banded where her wound had hit, covered with a black tank-top.

"Shade!" Knuckles cried, running over and embracing her tightly. Everyone was pretty dumbfounded at the sight. Sonic had never seen the red echidna display such affection before… Even Shade looked surprised. Knuckles eventually noticed the odd looks he was receiving, and let go, backing up. "Sorry, I…" he stumbled, "I'm just glad you're okay."

Shade smiled in response. "Likewise," she said, "Sorry to have worried you."

Sonic saw N'rrga and Cyrix wrapping arms closely around each other at the sight. Apparently, they sensed something going on between the two…

… And so did Rouge, who watched with disdain.

He was about to say something when Marine's loud, boastful voice rang about the room. "Good on ya, everybody!" she chimed loudly for all the universe to hear, "Now that's things are grouse 'round these ridges, I say we have ourselves a shindig! You all on board?"

There were chuckles and even small cheers around the room. However, Sonic digressed. "Good idea, Marine," he said, "But we're not quite done yet. There's one last thing my friends and I need to take care of…"

He looked around the room, noticing there was more than just the party he came with. Silver, Blaze, Marine, even the aliens are just as much your friends. "Though you're all welcome to come along and help out if you want…"

* * *

Eggman watched in amusement as the Cyclone traveled into the wormhole towards the Twilight Cage. He grinned as the vessel disappeared and the worm hole shut. "Good bye, Sonic the Hedgehog…" he sneered to himself, followed by a sinister chuckle.

Little did he know, Sonic was standing right behind him.

"Aw, shucks," he said, "I've barely been gone a minute. Do you really care about me that much?"

The reaction was priceless. Sonic had to keep from doubling over with laughter as Eggman nearly jumped out of his clothes in shock. He twisted around to face him, his look filled with pure shock and terror.

"Sonic!" he cried out, "You're here?! I mean, uh you're back! Already..! Eh heh heh… uh… Did you miss the flight somehow? I could've sworn you boarded the Cyclone with everyone else…"

Sonic rolled your eyes, unimpressed.

"What's with that look?" Eggman shouted, "Everyone's gone ahead without you! Surely you of all people want to save the world, am I correct? What are you waiting for? Your crew needs you! The WORLD needs you!"

"What the world DOESN'T need is the Eggman Empire," Sonic hissed, "Which YOU were about to construct while we were conveniently away, with nobody else to stop you!"

Eggman made the most fakest gasp Sonic had ever heard. "Why Sonic, I'm hurt!" he replied, "I told you, I've reformed! I can't believe you would suspect such a terrible thing of me to do!"

"Then explain my future!" Silver shouted as he emerged from the shadows behind Sonic, "How you and all your successors put the entire world through tyranny and suffering, all for YOUR selfish agenda!"

"The exact moment you come across newfound technology to aid you, courtesy of the Nocturnus clan!" Shade shouted, emerging as well and joining Silver's side.

"You're too quick to assume!" Eggman cried, "I'll have you know I was planning to use my resources AND the Nocturnus' for the greater good!"

"Then how do you explain these history logs I got from Janae that say in THIS year, all the cities and kingdoms were taken over by YOUR machinery!" Tails shouted, joining the group as well. He activated his watch, which displayed texts and pictures of former Resistance members, which included Vector, Espio, and older versions of Charmy and Cream. "THESE GUYS were the founding members of the Resistance!"

"Cream was one of the best leaders," Amy added in and she joined them all as well, "Until YOU broke her spirit when you gave her easy victories, only to destroy her team!" Tears nearly formed in the young hedgehog's eyes, "You put our friends into warzone full of hell!"

"Now hold on a moment!" Eggman shouted, "You can't yell at me for something I haven't even done yet!"

"So you WERE planning on betraying us while we were gone," Shadow mused as he and the rest of the team crew step in.

Yup, that caught him. "Well, I mean, it MAY have crossed my mind…" Eggman sputtered, "But hey, look, I see I'm outnumbered and caught. I can't believe something so crazy would work! I should really know better! In fact, from this moment on, I'm turning over a new leaf! I promise from this moment on, I'll behave and use my resources for good!"

Knuckles slammed his fists together. "Yeah, and we should just start believing you _this_ time, after all the many times you've said the same damn thing_."_

"See? That's the spirit, Knuckles! I knew I could count on _you_ to believe me!"

Knuckles growled at this, but Sonic held up an arm to keep him from attacking. "Okay, let's say you're telling the truth," he said, "Let's assume you ARE going to be good after all, and you're not going to use any of your machines, or Nocturnus' technology for any evil…"

Eggman loosened up a little. "Yes… Of course!"

"We're just going to _make sure _of that."

With that, the power suddenly shut down. Shocked, Eggman ran to the edge of his console and looked over. You glanced down yourself, seeing Princess N'rrga at the power generator, sucking all the remaining power out.

Loud bangs, clashes, and pure destruction followed. Sonic could see Krane and Krog smashing apart all of Eggman's remaining buildings outside, while Cyrix and Thaxas take down with ease even the biggest and deadliest of Eggman's robots that try to counter. Omega flew in as well, shooting his guns and missiles at everything around him.

"No! STOP!" Eggman cried, "You're destroying everything!"

"Good!" Sonic crossed his arms and nodded, "The less things in working order, the better."

What remained of Eggman's resources came crawling out of the woodwork to defend their master. Sonic decided it was time to lend a hand, as did the others, as they all jumped into battle and took out every robot, every generator, and any and every last thing that could aid Eggman into the smallest evil plot.

They weren't leaving the mad dictator even an inch to try again.

Once things were basically leveled, Sonic returned to his obese enemy, who was on his knees in anger and despair. His was staring downward, his hands clawing into the steel floors. "You bastard…!" he growled once the hedgehog approached.

"You're one to talk," Sonic snorted.

Eggman snapped his head at him. "You think you've won for good, haven't you?" he snarled, "This is no different than the last setbacks you've given me! Just because you destroy my toys, doesn't mean I won't be back! I'll return once more, Sonic! And when I do, I'll be stronger than ever! You'll rue the day you destroyed my city!"

"You'll have to escape the police first," Sonic smirked.

"What..?"

Rouge soared in and landed by Sonic's side. "I took the liberty of alerting G.U.N. of your whereabouts," she grinned, "Funny how my signals start working once I'm back in my timeline in my dimension."

Eggman's anger morphed to fear. "You mean…?"

"You've been through enough today," Sonic grinned, "So I'll give you a head start."

"But you better hurry," Rouge followed up, "They'll be here very soon."

Eggman jumped to his feet and dashed off in the opposite direction. "You've gone too far this time, Sonic!" he screamed as he ran off, "Mark my words! You WILL regret this! You just wait!"

Sonic calmly placed his hands behind his head. "I look forward to it, Eggman."

* * *

As Rouge had promised, G.U.N. arrived on the scene. Troops helped to take down any last stragglers, and secured the premises. Eggman's latest headquarters was now in the hands of the government. Sonic wasn't sure if it was much better, but he decided it was better than being in a psychotic scientist's.

Commander Abraham Tower approaches Sonic and gave a salute. "Sonic, thank you for everything," he said, "Though I am disappointed Eggman managed to get away…"

Sonic shrugged. "He's got nothing left at the moment," he said, "If he does manage to get away, it'll be out of pure luck."

"At the very least, you were able to stop the Marauders and drive them away permanently," Tower replied, "Rouge went ahead and gave me the full report, along with the Nocturnus technology that you helped her retrieve."

"And you're not going to misuse it like Eggman was planning to, right?" Sonic asked.

"I assure you," Tower said, "The top priority of G.U.N. is to protect and serve the people of the world. We will study it, and perhaps we could use it as a means to help others and improve technological means if the opportunity arises."

"Believe me, Blue," Rouge added, "If anyone's going to do that, you can bet it's more likely G.U.N. than Eggman."

Sonic crossed his arms. "I suppose," he conceded.

"Rouge, I expect the official written report on my desk by the end of Monday," Tower saluted the two once more.

Rouge returned the gesture. "Yes sir!"

As the commander turned and walked off, Sonic and Rouge turned around themselves, and caught a glimpse of Knuckles nearby, standing by one of the wrecked buildings, where Angel Island had crashed hard into it.

"Hey Knuckles!" Sonic called and rushed over to him and Shade, standing nearby.

Knuckles nodded, acknowledging his presence. "Just in time, Sonic," he said, "I'm about ready to restore the Master Emerald and raise the island back up."

"You mean every piece of the island?" the hedgehog looked around at the damaged land, "It got pretty smashed when it hit the city…"

"Once I put the emerald back, it should restore everything."

"Dang," Sonic smirked, "Is there nothing that Master Emerald can do?"

"According to Aurora, there isn't," Knuckles smirked at him..

Sonic looked over to Shade. "What about you?" he asked, "What are your plans, now that you're back in our world?"

"Leaving here, before these troops see me and bombard me with a million questions," Shade replied, then looked over to Knuckles, "Besides, Knuckles has asked that I stay with him on Angel Island, and I've agreed. I think it's time this stupid feud between the Nocturnus and the Knuckles tribes comes to an end."

Knuckles sheepishly looked downwards. "Well, it will be nice to have company…"

"Before you go," Rouge spoke up, and she approached Shade and handed her a box, "A little parting gift from me."

Shade curiously took the box and opened it, letting out a soft gasp. "A leech sword and shield!" she said as she pulled out two mechanical wristlets. "You captured some of the Nocturne technology while we were away?"

"Well, with a little help from Sonic," Rouge smirked towards the hedgehog, "I asked him to help me collect what I could… But it didn't feel right keeping ALL of it away from you. I figured you'd like _those_ at least."

Shade closed the box and nodded. "Thank you, Rouge."

Rouge lowered her eyelids and turned away, "Yeah. Enjoy your gifts…" She turned and skulked off.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "What's her deal?"

Sonic had an idea what was up. "Be right back," he said "I'll find out."

He stepped away and quickly reached Rouge's side. "So that's it?" he told the bat, "No parting words? No fight for your man?"

"What's the point?" Rouge sighed, "He's made his decision. He's not interested."

"How do you know unless you talk to him?"

Rouge stopped in her tracks and uneasily crossed her arms. "I do care about Knuckles," she murmured, "Which is why I don't want to press the subject. I didn't come across as the warmest girl around him, and maybe that's my mistake. Shade stands a better chance. If that's how fate wants it, who am I to change things?" She looked at Sonic, as if confirming her decision. "What do you think?"

Sonic looked back over at Knuckles. Surprisingly, he was actually looking back at them both. Maybe he was a little indecisive himself…

'_Time to stick my nose in where it doesn't belong!'_

* * *

_-Go Team Knuxouge!_

_-Go Team Knuxade!_

** _-Seriously, Sonic, mind your own business..._ **

* * *

Sonic sighed and stepped backwards, placing his hands behind his head. "Honestly Rouge," he said, "I think this is something you all need to work out yourselves…"

The bat rolled her eyes. "Some help you are."

"Well I'm sorry," said Sonic, "But it's not up to me to decide. And even if it was, how could I? I think you and Shade are BOTH great for Knuckles!"

Rouge gave a little smirk at that. Apparently, she seemed fond the idea… Sonic felt a little queasy at the thought. Unless HE was the guy in the middle, he didn't want to think about threesomes at the moment… "Unfortunately, Knuckles doesn't seem like harem type," he finished.

Rouge crossed her arms and darted her eyes to the side. "No… I'm afraid not."

"All I can say is follow your heart," said Sonic, "And let Knuckles do the same. Things will work themselves out."

Rouge shrugged. "Okay… Wish me luck, Blue."

"Good luck!" Sonic cheered. As the batgirl turned to fly over towards the echidnas, the hedgehog twisted around himself and jogged off. As exciting as what would come down, he really didn't want to get involved…

As he made his way back towards the city, he eventually met back up with Amy, Tails, Silver, Blaze, and Marine. "Hey guys!" he greeted, "Erm… where are our 'other' friends at?"

"Laying low," Tails responded, "With the government around, who knows what crazy questions might get asked?"

"F'get the questions, mate!" Marine spat, "Who knows what do-hickeys they might shove up their-"

"MARINE!" Blaze yelped.

"Er… right," Marine said meekly, "Y'know what I mean…"

"Hey, look!" Amy pointed up to the air. The others followed her direction, and noticed the crashed island behind them was suddenly engulfed in a green glow. Then, all the pieces of the island started to rise up back into the air. After several hundred feet, the pieces glowed brighter, and after a small greenish flash, the island reappears as a whole, and continues rising higher.

"Looks like the Master Emerald is back in place now," said Tails.

Amy gave a long sigh. "Well, G.U.N. has everything covered here," she said, "And Knuckles managed to fix Angel Island and save the Master Emerald. Guess we're finally done."

Sonic stretched. "Yup," he agreed, "Only thing left is to head home and see our friends again!"

Amy's face lit up. "That's right!" she chimed, "Cream's waiting for me!"

"Cream?" Blaze perked up.

"That's right, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Amy turned to the cat, "Come on, Blaze! I bet she'll be so happy to see you again!"

"And what about us..?" the group heard Creasis' voice speak in their minds, as the Voxai, Zoah, Kron, and Princess N'rrga all cautiously approached them as well.

Silver nodded. "We should look into getting back home soon ourselves."

"I hear ya," said Sonic, "But… you're not thinking about leaving without a proper party first!"

"Love to party, do Krog and Krane!" Krane chimed as he and his brother suddenly started break dancing.

"Strewth!" Marine cried, "After all we've gone through, we deserve a throw down! What'cha say, Blaze?"

Blaze crossed her arms and gave a low sigh. "Well, now that I have so many friends who insist," she speaks, "I guess have no choice."

"Great!" Amy winked, "I'll set something up and give you all the details later!"

And with that, everyone high-tailed it out of Eggman's city and back to Blue Ridge Zone, where they had last left the Tornado. First stop was at Tails' workshop near Central City to drop off the aliens and allow them to relax and spend the night. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Blaze, Marine, and Silver then went across country to Leaf Forest Village, where Cream and her mother lived.

Amy had been anxious to see her rabbit friend again and hugged her tightly once Cream answered the door. "I'm just so happy to see you again!" she chimed after Cream had expressed her confusion.

"But… You've only been gone for half a day," Cream stated.

Tails sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "It's a long story…"

"I see…" Cream replied, "I wonder what fun-filled adventure you had without me..?" She glanced upwards, and her face grew ecstatic. "Blaze?!"

The cat gave a shy smile. "Hello, Cream. Long time no see."

Cream rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Blaze's waist. "It's been far too long!" the rabbit cheered, as Cheese excitedly cooed and floated above them, "I can't believe you're here!"

"Oy, who's this lil' sheila?" Marine asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Marine, no need to be jealous," Blaze smiled, "I always have room for more friends in my life. This is Cream. I met her when I first came to Sonic's world, and she became basically my guide."

Cream let go and gave a polite curtsey. "Hello Miss Marine," she greets, "A pleasure to meet you.

Marine eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then gave a wide smile and took hold of her hand. "G'day, mate!" she chimed, "Any cobber of Blaze's is a cobber of mine!"

Cream tilted her head. "What's a cobber..?"

"You must come inside, everyone!" Vanilla offered from behind Cream, "I'll make us all rose-carrot tea. Clearly we have a lot to talk about!"

"Mmm, rose-carrot tea," Amy sighed, "I've missed that!"

"I bet it's got nothin' on my ma's Seaweed Tucker!" Marine jested as they all enter inside Cream's house.

Cream and Vanilla had been brought up to speed about the adventure into the Twilight Cage, then to the future, then to Blaze's world, and so forth…

"It sounded really scary and dangerous," said Cream, "I'm glad you decided not to let me come. I don't think I could've taken it."

"Though I can't imagine it being any better than the Eggman Empire taking over the entire world for over two-hundred years," Vanilla mused.

"Well, for what it's worth, Cream," Sonic said, "You were one of the important players in the start of the Resistance."

"Really?" Cream asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yup. The leader, to be exact."

Cream grinned widely. "I guess I might have what it takes after all!" she squealed, "Perhaps now you'll let me come on your next adventure?"

Amy elbowed Sonic's side slightly, and he sighed in response. "We'll see…"

"Anyway," Amy spoke, "I'm trying to put together a little celebratory party in honor of our victory! Miss Vanilla, would you mind if we held it here at your house? You, Cream, and Cheese would of course be invited!"

Vanilla smiled warmly and nodded. "Of course! Anything for the heroes of the world."

Sonic gave a thumbs up, "Sweet! Can't wait!"

* * *

The day of the party came quickly. After a much deserved long rest, Sonic was fully energized for the shindig that Amy had planned at Cream's house.

He, Tails, and Silver arrived, as do the aliens from the Twilight Cage (they had asked to crash at Tails' workshop to avoid hard questioning from the authorities that would try to hound them.) Blaze and Marine were already there, as Cream and her mother offered their home for them to stay at.

Surprisingly, Team Dark had come too! Sonic would have expected Rouge to come, but Shadow and Omega came as a welcomed surprise. He never took them to be party-goers.

And not long after did Knuckles and Shade arrive. Shade had with her Ix's former weapon, the golden staff which turned out to be their world's version of the Jeweled Scepter. Shade mentioned that to make up for her past sins, she will safe-guard it on Angel Island to ensure no one else will use it for their own corrupt purposes.

Speaking of Shade, she still had not replaced the upper armor, and is still going around with her black camisole-shirt. Sonic couldn't help but question why.

"I'm renouncing the Nocturnus tribe," she replied after being asked, "Maybe a total wardrobe makeover is in order… But for now, I like how I look. The less Maurader, the better."

"Remind me to show you what a mall looks like," Rouge snarked as she approached the group, "I could give you a total wardrobe exchange!"

"Sounds like fun," Shade smiled, "I look forward to it."

Sonic took this opportunity to take Knuckles by the shoulder and lead him back slightly. "What do you want, Sonic?" he grunted.

"Okay, I gotta know," Sonic grinned, "Those two girls were after you like buzzards to a carcass."

Knuckles twitched his nose. "Yeah... I kinda noticed."

"I didn't stick around the other day, but you gotta tell me what happened!"

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon, buddy, spill! Which one did you pick?!"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes at the hedgehog. "Why do you care so much?"

"You know me, I'm a total shipper!" Sonic laughed, "Did they fight over you? Were there tears? Who did you end up confessing your feelings too after all that drama?!"

The echidna drew in a deep breath before placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Truthfully, Sonic," he said lowly, and then pulled him in closer, bringing his ear to his mouth and whispering, "... I'm never going to tell you…"

Sonic was taken aback. "Whaaaat?!" he cried, "Come on, tell me!"

Knuckles crossed his arms triumphantly. "Nope!" he grinned, "You're just gonna have to figure it out yourself, pal."

Sonic pouted. "Aww… Why d'ya have to be so cruel?"

"Think of it as payback for all the hard times you've given me," he snarked as he walked off towards Rouge and Shade, still chatting with one another.

Sonic watched him leave with disdain. "Sheesh… Touche…"

"Sonic?"

Sonic turned around and faced Blaze as she was approaching him. "Hey, Blaze," he greeted, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Marine and I plan to head back to our world after the party," she told him, "But first, I wanted to say thank you for everything." She held out her hand, "Not only did you help protect my world and get back the Jeweled Scepter, but well…"

She glanced downwards. Were her cheeks turning pink? "We… made a very good team," she continued.

Sonic smirked and took hold of her hand, shaking it. "We sure did," he responded, "Though you gotta give props to Shadow and Silver too."

"Of course they helped," Blaze replied, "But, Sonic…" She looked back up at him. "I never really told you just how much you mean to me. How much I appreciate having you in my life…"

She trailed off. Somehow, Sonic knew there's more she wanted to say. "And…?"

"And…" Blaze had a full on blush now and has trouble maintaining eye contact, "I guess… what I'm trying to say is… I-"

_"Sonic!"_

The two were interrupted as Amy suddenly came running in and grabbed Sonic around the waist, hugging him tightly. "I've barely had the chance to chat with you!" she chimed, then glared up at Blaze, "I was just curious about what you two were talking so intently about?"

"Well, Amy," Sonic replied, "Blaze had something she really wanted to tell me." He looked back up at the cat. "Well?"

Blaze twitched her nose and turned away. "Well I can't really tell you with her around like that."

"And why not?" Amy barked, clutching onto Sonic's arm tightly, "Anything you have to say to Sonic, you can say to me! I AM his girlfriend, after all!"

Sonic glanced to the side, slightly embarrassed. Blaze, however, looked up at him earnestly. "Is it true, Sonic?" she asked, "Do you care about Amy?"

Amy looked up at him as well for the answer.

_'Welp, this is it, Sonic… Time for you to choose.'_

* * *

-_Give your heart to Amy_

_-Give your heart to Blaze_

** _-Give your heart to nobody_ **

* * *

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Truthfully, girls," he replied, "I'm not really setting myself up on the market anytime soon."

Blaze lowered her head slightly. Amy grit her teeth in anger. "What do you mean?" she shouted, "After all that time I spent trying to impress you, and even making up a fake boyfriend just to get you jealous? How can you NOT be interested in me?!"

The hedgehog shrugged. "I'm just not."

"Sonic!" Amy screeched, suddenly digging her nails into his arm. He winced in pain and tried to pry her off. "You selfish hog! You idiot! You jerk! You… YOU…!"

"That's enough, Amy!" Blaze said loudly.

The pink hedgehog stopped yelling and glared over at the cat.

"In case you haven't noticed, he hasn't chosen me either," Blaze explained, "This is his decision, and we must respect it. If you truly do love and care about him, you'll give him time and space."

Amy grimaced, and threw his arm away from her in a huff. "Fine!" she snarled, "Have it your way…" She then twisted to Sonic and pointed a finger in his face. "But the moment you realize you made a mistake and come crawling back to me, it'll be too late!"

And with that, she turned and stormed away.

Sonic scratched his head, befuddled, and Blaze touched his shoulder. He turned to face her. "Hey, no hard feelings?" he asked her.

Blaze smiled. "I'll be fine," she assured you, "As much as I'd like to have more, I'm happy to just have your friendship for now."

Sonic shrugged. "Well, you never know what the future holds."

Blaze nodded. "But remember to also consider Amy's feelings as well," she says, "She may be a goofball, but she's still a nice girl who deserves a break."

Sonic gave a low sigh. "Yeah, don't I know it…"

"Oy, Blaze!"

The cat princess turned around to see Marine rushing up, with Cream not far behind. "What is it, Marine?"

"Lookit what Cream made me!" the raccoon gushed, pointing to the crown made up of pretty flowers on her head.

Sonic chuckled. "That's Cream's personal seal of approval," he said to her, "Looks like she thinks of you as a favorite friend now."

Cream nodded in agreement. "Yes," she said, "And I have one for you too, Miss Blaze!"

Blaze knelt down, allowing the young rabbit to place the flower crown on her head. "Thank you, Cream," she said, "This is far better than even my official crown."

Cream gushed in excitement. "I'm so happy you like it!" she chimed, "I didn't get a chance to make one for you the last time we met!"

The two embraced tightly, just as everyone else approached.

"Oy," said Marine, "I reckon it's time for us to lob out."

Blaze stood back up. "Yes," she said, and gave a respectful bow, "Thank you for everything, everyone."

Sonic shook Blaze's hand. "See you soon," he nodded.

"Likewise," she replied, "Take care."

"Marine, stay out of trouble, okay?" Tails called out.

"Holey dooley, you of small faith!" Marine chattered on, "I'll be apples, thanks! You just wait and see! Next time we meet, I'll be even stronger than you'll ever know!"

"Just don't let it get to you head, kiddo," Silver said.

Blaze nodded her farewell, as she held out the Sol Emeralds in one hand and held up the Jeweled Scepter in the other. An energy glowed from the inner crest of the scepter, and the Sol Emeralds lifted into the air. The artifacts shined brightly, as then both Blaze and Marine disappeared.

"You have been most gracious hosts," Thaxas spoke as the aliens came in as well. They all too have flower crowns on their heads. Cream is just about capable of loving anyone and everyone, it seemed.

"Thanks for all your help," Sonic said to them.

"No, Sonic…" Thanos replied, "We should be thanking you. Though our colonies have been destroyed, we can live the rest of our lives in peace knowing the greatest of evils have been permanently eliminated."

"Live long and wise, our friends!" Vennas waved her tentacle in a circular motion.

Shade pulled out the Golden Scepter, and Sonic held out the Chaos Emeralds. The same process occurs, and the aliens disappear.

Finally, it was Silver's turn. He stood up, after having Cream place a flower crown on his head as a farewell gift. The little rabbit and her mother bowed politely at him, and he turned and headed towards Sonic and the others.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around," he said as he offered his hand, "I can't thank you enough for all you've done."

"We could say the same thing," Sonic replied, shaking his hand, "We would never have made it back home without your help."

"I'd say we're even then," Silver smiled, "Doesn't mean you can't come by if you ever need help again. Especially since we can drop in on each other without the worry of endangering our worlds."

"Ditto," Sonic grinned.

"Give our regards to the Resistance!" Tails smiled and waved.

"And tell Janae that she's got to be a good girl, or her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's going to have a few words her!" Vanilla joked as she wags her finger.

Silver chuckled. "I'll mention it."

Out of nowhere, Amy rushed in, grabbing Silver by the waist and hugging tightly. The hedgehog was taken aback in shock. "Amy? What're you..?"

"I'll miss you, Silver!" she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek, "Come visit us again real soon, okay?"

Silver blinked, confused, but nodded. Sonic just stood there, dumbfounded. Surely, Amy was just doing all that to make him jealous…

…. It MIGHT be working…

Amy released Silver and stepped back. Sonic quickly stepped up next to her and crossed his arms. He tried not to look peeved, but he did notice Amy casting a little smirk his way. He tried to ignore it. But damn, he was irked…

Shade once again raised the Golden Scepter, as the Chaos Emeralds floated up. As with Blaze and Marine, as well as the aliens, the emeralds and scepter glowed as Silver vanished.

It was now Sonic and his friends, back in their world, back in their time.

Back to peaceful times.

And with the damage dealt to Eggman, Sonic planned to take advantage of that peace for as long as possible.

Though without his nemesis around, things were going to get boring around here…

Then again, he never really needed Eggman to make things interesting. Sonic didn't wait for adventure. He went out and found it, no matter what came across.

Once the party winded down, Sonic bid a quick farewell to everyone, and dashed off once more over the horizon.

This adventure may have been over, but another one always lied in wait!

After all, Sonic was always on the go!

**THE END.**


	17. Alternative Shipping Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For those who support certain couples, here's what would have happened if you chose a certain pairing...

**GO TEAM KNUXADE!**

* * *

"I think, Rouge," Sonic explained, "That's the most selfless and nicest thing you've ever done for Knuckles."

Rouge closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, you're right," she sighed heavily, "It sucks… but I have no one to blame but myself. I didn't treat him right. I have a better shot at stealing the Master Emerald from him for good than I do having something serious between us." She looked back up at the two echidnas. "Shade's not a bad bird herself. I know Red's in good hands with her around."

"You gonna be okay?" Sonic asked.

Rouge looked sweetly at him. "Don't worry about me, Blue," she replied, "I'm tougher than I look. It's not like Knuckles is the ONLY handsome man in the world. There are plenty of fish in the sea. After all, I _do_ have Shadow for a partner."

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. "You thought getting Knuckles' attention was hard," he joked, "Shadow's going to be a REAL challenge!"

"Yeah, but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be fun, would it?" Rouge winked at you, "Give Knuckles my best."

"Take care, Batgirl," Sonic nodded, and they both parted ways.

Sonic made his way back to Knuckles and Shade. "So what was that about?" the red echidna asked you.

"Oh nothing," Sonic shrugged playfully, "Rouge is just jealous of Shade because she's the one living with you instead of her."

Knuckles twitched his nose in embarrassment. "I didn't think she cared…"

Sonic chuckled. "Well, anyway, I guess you can't wait to raise this island back up, huh?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't be much of a guardian if I kept putting it off."

"I will see you at the shindig next week, right?"

"Believe me, Sonic," Knuckles grinned at his friend, "You're never going to see the last of me, island or not."

Sonic held out his hand. Knuckles took it, squeezing gently as a sign of respect. Then Sonic went in for a buddy hug, but the echidna quick to jump back and give him an odd look. Sonic snapped his fingers. "Darn, almost had you!"

"Nice try," Knuckles muttered, "See you later."

Sonic waved, turned, and headed off the destroyed land and back onto the city street. Knuckles and Shade disappeared further into the wreckage of the island. After walking off a distance, Sonic noticed the crashed island behind him was suddenly engulfed in a green glow. Then, all the pieces of the island started to rise up back into the air. After several hundred feet, the pieces glowed brighter, and after a small greenish flash, the island reappeared as a whole, and continued rising higher.

* * *

...

* * *

The day of the party came quickly. After a much deserved long rest, Sonic was fully energized for the shindig that Amy had planned at Cream's house.

He, Tails, and Silver arrived, as do the aliens from the Twilight Cage (they had asked to crash at Tails' workshop to avoid hard questioning from the authorities that would try to hound them.) Blaze and Marine were already there, as Cream and her mother offered their home for them to stay at.

Surprisingly, Team Dark had come as well. Sonic had expected Rouge to come, but Shadow and Omega came as a welcomed surprise.

And not long after did Knuckles arrive with Shade. She had with her Ix's former weapon, the golden staff which turned out to be your world's version of the Jeweled Scepter. Shade mentioned that to make up for her past sins, she would safe-guard it on Angel Island to ensure no one else would use it for their own corrupt purposes.

Speaking of Shade, she still had not replaced her upper armor, and was still going around with her black camisole shirt. Sonic couldn't help but question why.

"I'm renouncing the Nocturnus tribe," she replied after being asked, "Maybe a total wardrobe makeover is in order… But for now, I like how I look. The less Maurader, the better."

Knuckles nodded with a smile. "That is a nice look on you…"

Sonic didn't bother hiding your chuckle. "Lucky you, Knuckles."

He twitched his nose, but didn't argue, or even get upset. "Soooo," Sonic pressed on, "You guys getting along well? Planning on saving your species pretty soon?"

Now THAT got Knuckles to blush and grit his teeth. "That's not any of your business, Sonic!"

Shade looked away with a blush of her own, but Sonic noticed she wasn't really upset. If anything, she looked rather welcoming of the idea…

"No really," Sonic continued, "I'm happy for you both. Good luck with each other."

The two stole a glance at one another, and turned away, both blushing a bit. Yup, Sonic knew they were going to be just fine.

"Sonic?"

Speaking of which…

* * *

...

* * *

**GO TEAM KNUXOUGE**

* * *

Sonic placed an earnest hand on Rouge's shoulder. "I think, Rouge, that you deserve a chance to be happy too," he replied, "And you're not giving yourself a fair shot if you just leave things as they are."

Rouge lifted her head a bit. "You really think so?" she asked.

"You won't know until you give it a try."

Rouge grew a more determined face and nodded. "Better now than never, I suppose," she said as she flapped her wings and hurried back over to Knuckles.

Sonic desperately wanted to follow and see what they said, but he had already invaded their personal business as it was… He'd just have to settle standing there and see if could can read their lips!

Rouge approached Knuckles and said something to him. The echidna raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. Sonic couldn't quite make out what Rouge said afterwards, but it got Knuckles pretty irritated and he started yelling. The hedgehog could sort of hear his voice, but it was a tad garbled. Rouge yelled back, but Sonic couldn't really understand her either.

Shade finally got in between the two, and said something to Rouge. The bat twisted away, arms crossed, obviously miffed. Shade then said something to Knuckles, he replied, and the two went back and forth a few times. Finally, Knuckles sighed and approached Rouge. He placed a hand on her shoulder and said something softer to her. She turned around to face him, but Sonic couldn't determine what she was saying.

Knuckles awkwardly looked to the side. It looked like he might have muttered something, but Sonic could barely see his lips move. Whatever it was, it got Rouge to suddenly jump on him and engulf him in a tight hug. Shade watched this all unfold, rather amused.

Rouge said one last parting word to the echidnas, waved flirtatiously, and made her way back to you. "Well?" Sonic asked.

"He didn't believe me at first," Rouge explained, "Thought I was trying to trick him. But Shade of all people convinced him to give me a fair chance. Guess she's not as bad as I thought!"

"And she didn't put up a fight for Knux?"

"I guess she's willing to let him decide for himself, even IF he's the only other echidna left in this world," Rouge replied with a grin, "'Cause let's face it… No matter the species, he and I got some serious sparks between us!"

Sonic chuckled. There wasn't any denying that. He looked back over to Knuckles, who seemed to be glaring at you, as Shade disappeared further into the island. Soon, he turned off and followed her. Sonic turned and headed off the other way.

After walking off a distance, he noticed the crashed island behind him was suddenly engulfed in a green glow. Then, all the pieces of the island started to rise up back into the air. After several hundred feet, the pieces glowed brighter, and after a small greenish flash, the island reappears as a whole, and continues rising higher.

* * *

...

* * *

The day of the party came quickly. After a much deserved long rest, Sonic was fully energized for the shindig that Amy had planned at Cream's house.

He, Tails, and Silver arrived, as do the aliens from the Twilight Cage (they had asked to crash at Tails' workshop to avoid hard questioning from the authorities that would try to hound them.) Blaze and Marine were already there, as Cream and her mother offered their home for them to stay at.

Surprisingly, Shadow and Omega had come too! Sonic would have expected Rouge to come, but the other two came as a welcomed surprise. He never took them to be party-goers.

And not long after did Knuckles arrive with both Shade and Rouge. Shade had with her Ix's former weapon, the golden staff which turned out to be their world's version of the Jeweled Scepter. Shade mentioned that to make up for her past sins, she will safe-guard it on Angel Island to ensure no one else will use it for their own corrupt purposes.

Speaking of Shade, she still had not replaced the upper armor, and is still going around with her black camisole-shirt. Sonic couldn't help but question why.

"I'm renouncing the Nocturnus tribe," she replied after being asked, "Maybe a total wardrobe makeover is in order… But for now, I like how I look. The less Maurader, the better."

"Remind me to show you what a mall looks like," Rouge smirked, "I could give you a total wardrobe exchange!"

Sonic looked over, noticing Rouge had her arm hooked around Knuckles'. It looks like the echidna was beginning to grow fonder of her company. "So you two been on your first date yet?" he asked slyly.

Knuckles twitched his nose. "This technically IS our first date," he replied.

"Don't worry," Rouge grinned, "I'll make sure to treat him to a REAL night out on the town."

The two walked off, leaving Sonic with Shade alone. He approached the female echidna. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well, I think I recall you eyeing Knuckles and defending him to your last breath several hundred times…"

Shade chortled and closed her eyes. "There's more to life than finding a soul mate, you know," she replied, "Just because we're both echidnas doesn't mean we're 'destined'. Knuckles should be free to be with whomever he fancies." She looked back up at you, "Though I can't say for sure what it is about Rouge that might attract him. Their relationship beforehand seemed rather… abusive."

"Rouge just has strange ways of showing she cares," you shrugged, "But are you sure you're going to be okay, being with Knuckles on Angel Island? I imagine that's got to be awkward."

"If anything, I'll enjoy the sights," Shade smiled, "It is beautiful, now that it's been formed into one whole island once more."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to drop by and just visit for fun," Sonic said, "But Knuckles might get suspicious."

Shade chuckled. "Well, we'll see if Rouge just might change that."

"Seriously, though," said Sonic, "You're one of us now, Shade. Drop by and visit anytime." He held out his hand as a friendly gesture.

Shade smiled and took his hand, shaking it. "Thank you, Sonic."

"Sonic?"

Sonic turned around and faced Blaze as she was approaching him. "Hey, Blaze," he greeted, "What's up?"

Shade took this as her cue to leave them be and walked off.

* * *

...

* * *

**GIVE YOUR HEART TO BLAZE**

* * *

"Well, I do care about Amy…" Sonic started.

Amy grinned and held your arm tighter. Blaze gave a soft nod and looked away in defeat.

"But I care about you too," Sonic finished.

Both girls looked back at him in shock. "What do you mean?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, Sonic!" Amy snapped, "What DO you mean?"

Sonic gulped, bracing for the inevitable hammer smash to his head. "It means, Blaze, whatever you're feeling about me… I feel the same with you."

Blaze stared, wide-eyed, cheeks pinked. "You do?"

Sonic nodded earnestly. "I do."

"Sonic…" Blaze looked him in the eyes, "I… I'm very fond of you. Extremely. In fact, you could possibly say… I love you."

Sonic's smile intensified hearing that. "Same here."

***WHAM!***

There it was, the hammer to the head.

"Auugh!" Sonic yelped, "Amy, that hurt!"

"Yeah, well, YOU hurt me too, Sonic!" the pink hedgehog screamed, "All this time, everything I told you, the way I treated you, I thought POSSIBLY you had an inkling of the same feelings for me! But now you're confessing your love for BLAZE?!"

Sonic rubbed his injured head. "I never really indicated I felt the same way you did…"

"Yeah? Well, NEITHER DID I!"

Sonic stared at Amy oddly.

"REALLY!" she screamed at you, "My heart belongs to Dexter! Remember? My boyfriend?"

"I thought you made him up…"

"I…" Amy grew flustered, "I'm talking about ANOTHER Dexter! The one I really AM dating!"

"Then why are you so upset?"

"Because…" Amy grit her teeth, "Because… I DON'T KNOW WHY!"

She spun around and was about to stomp off… but then backtracked, and came right up to Blaze. Sonic was worried a cat fight would break out, but Blaze kept a cool composure.

Amy didn't attack Blaze, surprisingly, but she did jab a finger into her face. "Listen..!" she growled deeply, "You must be really special if Sonic chose YOU over ME… But so hear me, if I find out you hurt him in any way possible, I WILL come to your world and I WILL beat you so badly you'll BEG for Argus to take me away, are we clear?"

Blaze blinked, but then nodded calmly. "We are. I won't hurt him. I promise."

"Good!" Amy stomped off once more, but stopped halfway and looked back at Sonic. Her anger suddenly turned into confidence. "Your loss, Sonic!" she chimed as she ran off.

The hedgehog scratched his head as he watched her leave, but then he turned his attention back to Blaze as she placed a hand on his shoulder and gazed into his eyes lovingly.

However, before anything else could happen….

"Oy, Blaze!"

'Ugh… Perfect timing, Marine…'

Blaze quickly stepped away, slightly embarrassed. "Uh, yes, what is it, Marine?"

* * *

...

* * *

"Oy," said Marine, "I reckon it's time for us to lob out."

Blaze stood back up. "Yes," she said, and gave a respectful bow, "Thank you for everything, everyone."

"Take care, mates!" Marine waved excitedly.

Everyone waved back and said their farewells. Sonic, however, stepped forward and planted a big kiss on Blaze's cheek, leaving her (and everyone else in the party) speechless.

Blaze was stunned for a while, but soon got her bearings back, and smiled broadly at you. "I will certainly be seeing you again soon."

"Likewise," he grinned.

Blaze held out the Sol Emeralds in one hand and held up the Jeweled Scepter in the other. An energy glowed from the inner crest of the scepter, and the Sol Emeralds lifted into the air. The artifacts glowed brightly, as then both Blaze and Marine disappeared.

Sonic turned around, suddenly noticing the awkward looks on everyone's faces (except Amy, who looked rather peeved). "What?" he asked, "We're dating now."

There wasn't much response after that, other than maybe a few "Good for you!" and mere shrugs.

* * *

...

* * *

Finally, it was Silver's turn. He stood up, after having Cream place a flower crown on his head as a farewell gift. The little rabbit and her mother bowed politely at him, and he turned and headed towards Sonic and his friends.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around," he said as he offered his hand, "I can't thank you enough for all you've done."

"We could say the same thing," Sonic replied, shaking his hand, "We would never have made it back home without your help."

"I'd say we're even then," Silver smiled, "Doesn't mean you can't come by if you ever need help again. Especially since we can drop in on each other without the worry of endangering our worlds."

"Ditto," Sonic grinned.

"Give our regards to the Resistance!" Tails smiled and waved.

"And tell Janae she's gotta be a good girl, or her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's going to say a few words to her!" Vanilla joked while wagging her finger.

Silver chuckled. "I'll mention it."

Out of nowhere, Amy rushed in, grabbing Silver by the waist and hugging tightly. The hedgehog was taken back in shock. "Amy? What're you..?"

"I'll miss you, Silver!" she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek, "Come visit us again real soon, okay?"

Silver blinked, confused, but nodded. Sonic smirked. He knew exactly what Amy was trying to do… But unlike earlier, he was actually okay with the idea of those two getting together now. Whatever happens will happen. And who knows? Maybe they would end up happy together.

Amy released Silver and stepped back. Shade once again lifted the Golden Scepter, and the Chaos Emeralds floated up. As with Blaze and Marine, as well as the aliens, the emeralds and scepter glowed as Silver vanished.

* * *

...

* * *

**GIVE YOUR HEART TO AMY**

Sonic looked down at Amy and flashed her a smile. "I guess I care about her more than I let on."

Amy almost fell over in shock at the answer. "Sonic, waitaminute!" she cried quickly, "Are you saying… you LIKE me too?!"

"Well I've ALWAYS liked you," he smirked, "Buuut… I guess I kinda like you the same way you like me."

Amy inhaled deeply, stunned at what she just heard. "You… you mean it?"

"Wow, even YOU can't believe it, can you, Ames?" Sonic chuckled.

"Oh SONIC!" Amy squealed with delight, glomping him tightly and laughing with joy, "I don't believe it! I've dreamt of this moment for so long, I never thought it would actually happen! Oh Sonic I'm so happy, I love you so much!"

Sonic chuckled a bit as he gave her a little hug. He then glanced over at Blaze, still standing there, with a look of disappointment in her face. He frowned a bit and let go. "Hey, listen… Blaze, I-"

She held up her hand. "No, it's okay," she said, "I understand. It makes sense, after all. You have quite a history together. Not to mention I could see the attraction pretty much from the start."

Sonic blinked. "You did?"

Amy grabbed your arm tighter. "See?" she squealed, "Even everyone else can see the romance between us!"

Sonic shyly scratched the back of his head. Wow, if everyone else could see it, maybe he was the only one who was blind to love…

Blaze nodded towards the pink hedgehog. "Amy," she said, "You've got a good man there. Take good care of him. And don't take him for granted."

"Don't you worry, Blaze!" Amy winked, "I'm not gonna let him get away!"

Sonic wasn't quite sure how to describe this feeling… It was a strange mix of excitement with utter fear.

But he liked it!

"Marine, let's go," Blaze called, "It's time to get going."

It wasn't long before the young raccoon, wearing a crown of pretty flowers, ran up, with Cream bringing up the rear. "Hold up, sheila!" Marine cried, "Before we shoot through to home, Cream's got a lil' gift for ya!"

Sonic smiled, as he knew this meant that Cream had given Marine her personal seal of approval with those flower crowns. After all, she only gave them to whom she considered her favorite friends. Amy had many already, as did he. It only made sense that she wouldd give one to Blaze.

Sure enough, Cream presented the cat princess with a crown made of flowers. "Thank you, Cream," she smiled, "This is better than any crown I had ever received."

Cream made a funny "squee" noise of excitement and jumped on Blaze, hugging her tightly.

Soon enough, everyone else started to gather to say their good-byes. Sonic shook Blaze's hand. "See you soon," he nodded.

"Likewise," she smiled, "Take care."

* * *

...

* * *

Finally, it was Silver's turn. He stood up, after having Cream place a flower crown on his head as a farewell gift. The little rabbit and her mother bowed politely at him, and he turned and headed towards Sonic and his friends.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around," he said as he offered his hand, "I can't thank you enough for all you've done."

"We could say the same thing," Sonic replied, shaking his hand, "We would never have made it back home without your help."

"I'd say we're even then," Silver smiled, "Doesn't mean you can't come by if you ever need help again. Especially since we can drop in on each other without the worry of endangering our worlds."

"Ditto," Sonic grinned.

"Give our regards to the Resistance!" Tails smiled and waved.

"And tell Janae she's gotta be a good girl, or her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's going to say a few words to her!" Vanilla joked while wagging her finger.

Silver chuckled. "I'll mention it."

"Good bye, Silver!" Amy chimed as she clung onto Sonic's arm tightly, "I'm sorry things didn't work out between us!"

Sonic blinked, confused at the statement. Silver just tilted his head, looking as perplexed as him, but then shrugged.

* * *

...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, NOW I'm finished posting... for now...
> 
> I'm done posting to the "Golden Path" but later in a seperate entry, I'll post "alternative paths" such as "Team One" and so forth...
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
